Lunar Heart

---

Iscar MacNeal was exhausted. Three days straight she had been up through the night, arranging a revolution and an escape plan for 400 men, women and children.

Many of the Chinese Habitats were seething with persons willing to risk much, to find a better life. The moon colony was a success because of the sacrifices of these people and now they were not being allowed the rights they deserved. Now they were being denied self-government, a say in their own future.

Word came from Toronto. It was time to move, time to take possession of the Canadian habitat, Beta 2. On that day between Christmas and New Years she put out the call. All should be ready to meet in the night, according to the agreed schedule, along the rail tunnel. It was time to flee.

Frank had told Iscar Beta 2 was sealed and prepared with atmosphere.

Will, Iscar's husband and fellow conspirator, was saddened to leave everything he had built for something so uncertain. Would he ever be able to visit his friends back in Alpha Sector. Alpha 5 had been their home for nine years. Iscar worked as a social scientist, he as a forestry expert.

Now it was time to move.

Only a few people were about the corridors that night. They were the lookouts, watching for any security people or civilian spies. Will led Iscar and the three small children, while Halfdan watched the rear. Other families joined them as they approached the habitat security booth. Only Karl stood watch there. He had planned to join them, leaving the booth empty, as soon as everyone was through and into the rail tunnel.

Heading East, they moved out of site of the security station and waited for people to arrive from Alpha 10 through 6. It would take them some time to cover the 10 km from Alpha 10 through the tunnels. Soon a group of 50 souls arrived to add to their 30. When Iscar was assured that there were no more coming, the group moved on, approaching Alpha 4 in the dim light.

Two kilometres was the standard distance between Habitats. Each habitat could be a kilometre wide. Even with the low lunar gravity it took time to walk it with their long bounding strides. The children moved along quietly, being steered by the adults. The smaller ones were being carried. It was becoming a bit like a circus. A very quiet thoughtful circus.

Halfdan had gone ahead to talk to security and had convinced the men to go for coffee. A small group, two families, came out to join them and they moved on. As they approached Alpha 3, no security was found but three families of eight women and many children, waited in the tunnel.

Such is the reality of revolution. No hype, no drama, just determined people resolved to find a better life.

A group of men moved ahead on the approach to Alpha 2's security booth. They quickly surprises and captured the five men waiting for them with deadly weapons, crude weapons made from industrial lasers. Will had anticipated this and had his men move fast. The weapons never found opportunity to be used.

It was as much luck as skill for Will. Two of the security men were just leaving to visit the washroom and the others were not facing the tunnel when the attack came. They were disarmed and hands tied behind them. They were brought along with the traveling armada. Weapons were disassembled and discarded.

"We ought to kill you right here." Said Halfdan to the security men in his rough Chinese. " You know it is death by vacuum for anyone holding such weapons. If you cause any trouble at all we won't hesitate to put you out the next airlock. "

The captives were nervous wrecks. Their jobs had been nothing but routine for many years. They could not cause any trouble.

At Alpha 1 security greeted them with a cheer. The five prisoners were handed over and a statement was quickly given. Several families joined Iscar's group here with the blessing of the guards.

"There will be more support whenever you need it. " Stated an older Chinese women guards, very much in charge.

Iscar was lightheaded and excited at their success. They only needed to pass through the main interlink airlock separating Alpha and Beta Sector tunnels. But the numbers were not as many as Iscar had expected. Only half of those committed had actually joined in. Yet she was sure that once the settlers started moving in, many more from Alpha would come to help build a strong self-governing unit. She would need their help.

Now in Beta Sector, they moved on, to pass the Beta 1 security. Canadian men, resently come from Earth, raised their hands greeting them and raising their voices to wish them luck and success in their new home. Will stopped to talk to one of the men. The guard nodded at something Will had said and lifted the phone to relay a message. Will caught up to join the last part of the group.

It was now approaching 5:30 am. The Beta 2 Habitat stood open, fresh and empty. It quietly invited them to enter.

A new Hab. The corridors wider than in Alpha Sector. The boreworms here had worked with a five metre cut, a metre wider than the original equipment that mined the Alpha Habs.

This was very much a copy of Beta 1. Frank had followed many of the suggestioned changes Iscar had made, but as she looked down Area "A" she quickly found, to her horror, that the first level floor had not been removed from the compound courtyards, the very places where they would be living. Nor had the walls been removed for the full kitchen space and the common washroom facilities. Frank had surrendered to the political games played by the Beta Sector mining companies. She would soon straighten him out.

Her people were running about in Area "A" checking out the compounds and screaming out with happiness their amazement at the size of all the quarters.

Iscar made a call to Frank in Beta 1.

"I have some bones to pick with you. A little interior design work still needs to be done," Iscar impatiently stated.

"I will be right over. Don't get your knickers in a knot," answered Frank. Frank liked to use old fashioned expressions, so Iscar used them back at him.

"Bring the layout plans with you. " (see compound sketch)

With some difficulty, Iscar called all the people together and asked them not to get too comfortable. " There is still some work that has to be completed. Please take all your things into the West Factory area. We will rest there until everything is completed.

She spent, yet another sleepless day, going over the many details with Frank. He was not happy to have to do so much in a Hab that was already sealed and filled will the oxygen, argon, nitrogen mixer used in all the Habs. The bots worked so much better in vacuum and here he was with so many people about, many a chance of an accident.

Iscar suggested using sealed doors on the factory corridors. The rest of Area "A" could be put back into vacuum.

"The children Frank. We are expecting many more children. Do you think I can live in such a confined space with fifteen children?" The quarters were communal settings. "We need headroom. The quarters must have a two storie coartyard. We need kitchen space. I don't want this to become another prison. Its got to be full of light and airy. Put poles in front of the upper apartment doors. You know the fire pole with the linear motors and the inserted foot petal."

"Ok woman. You will get what you want. But don't let on to management that I am doing all this extra work."

For three days the new settlers had to sit tight waiting for the work to be completed. Iscar curled up in her comforters far down the factory corridor. Halfdan stood guard as she slept some hours through to the next evening.

She then woke to organize the first expedition. A gathering mission for equipment and personal item for the settlers.

It was New Years day 2055.

Will MacNeal would lead a party of 40 men. Iscar had phoned ahead to Beta 1. Confirming the order from the warehouse. Hopefully the warehouse would have everything they needed ready.

"We are going out like the old hunters, claiming what is ours." Will instructed his troop. " Any hesitation and they might try to cheat us. Keep an eye on everything you receive and make sure it stays with the flatcars." Will instructed. He was not taking any chances. He knew also their numbers mattered and their alertness.

They walked the two kilometres to Beta 1 and were led, by local security, into the warehouse reception area. There, they went through all the items they needed, carefully counting items as they were passed along. Some men were assigned to see all items out to the waiting flatcars.

Servant robots, industrial bots and cleaning bots were towed out along a special rail. Then heavy machinery, industrial molds and electric furnaces followed.

All food items came next. Included were large packages of emergency rations. Will had them sent on to Beta 2, keeping only a few men with him. They took care of the household items, that were needed just to bridge the time it would take until they started manufacturing their own goods.

Will found his own way over to the warehouse offices dedicated to agricultural items. He sent men into the rows of shelves, searching for any little or large items they might need. The atriums would need tools, string and wood and metal steaks, seed and bulbs, many items were already listed on the pages Will had given them.

"Hello, Old Guy," said the sassy young woman just inside the door by a side office. " How is it going?"

"Why Claire, hello. I forgot that you worked here." Will's mood was now edgy and nervous.

"Relax man. I won't do anything to embarrass you here in front of your men. You doing a bit of house sitting in Beta 2." she asked.

"You could put it that way." He began to relax.

"I have never seen you so up tight. That is not the Will I know."

"You know I love my wife and children. I would not want them hurt and I will never leave them. I hope that you will respect that and keep what happened after the dance to yourself," said Will.

"I think of Iscar as a good friend, and will be very cooperative. But you got to do something for me and a couple of my friends."

Will took time to judge her sincerity.

"Within reason. What do you want?" asked Will.

"You see those ten sunflower seed boxes by the office. I want them on the train and I want to go back with you."

"You got to tell me your intentions."

"I got to get out of here. Iscar knows I'm coming."

"Ok, but you will have to keep your distance from me and Iscar. I don't want to be running into you every day."

"I also want your warehouse job. I will be in charge. You will never see me, man. And those books will be as clean as new toilet paper. To sweeten the pot, I will include many items that I have arranged for. They will never be missed because they have never been recorded. That will be the reason you give to Iscar for my position," said Claire.

"How much stuff you talken' about?"

"You will see it on the dock. Just imagine a flatcar full of all the best moon tested seeds, a few tiller bots and two dozers. Now just get your mind back on the job and remember those boxes."

[lunar/beta2_basic-bore.gif shows the tunnels created before walls were removed]

When the supplies reached the dock at Beta 2, five loaded flatcars. Claire was sitting up on top of the boxes with three of her women friends, a boy and a man Iscar knew by reputation.

"Claire, good to see you." Iscar and the Clair hugged and fussed as the others climbed down to the dock.

"I am surprises to see you," said Iscar." Will said you gave him a 'take it or leave it' offer. I already had someone for the warehouse job. You going to do this to the highest standards?"

"You betcha. You won't have any complaints about my work. And you can see the items I have for you larder."

"This is not going to get us in trouble down the road? We need the goodwill of Beta 1. "

"I am very good at covering my tracks. But I promise there will be none of that in the new job. " Claire answered.

"I am not comfortable about this. But Will backs you and I respect his opinion. Lord knows, I wish he would give it more often.

"There will be two of you in the warehouse." said Iscar. "You are in charge four days a week. Sheena will be in charge the other three. You will have to work out the details between you. If there is any trouble you come to me. Sheena is in the warehouse now supervising this stuff. She already knows about you. Try not to anger her. She is a good friend."

Mel Finkle. The short stout man with black curly hair and an equally curly beard had been standing waiting to talk to Iscar. Claire was off to the warehouse.

"Hello Mel. I know you by reputation. You want to join us here?" Iscar shook his hand. He smiled winningly.

"If you know my reputation, I could be in trouble. Don't believe all you hear."

"And don't listen to everything people want to tell you. It could be poison!" Said Iscar with passion." You must realize that this is not just a bunch of squatters here." Continued Iscar. " We have a vision for the future of Luna. We want to change things. Improve the individual. Show respect to all. Fight for justice and see that it is served. Can you fit into that kind of society?"

"You can be sure of that. I do know about injustice. That is why I am here. I believe the Moon has a great future and I want to be part of it." said Mel.

Iscar looked over at the small tough woman at Mel's side. "And you Maggie. I have heard only good about you. Why do you want to come here?"

"You could say that I am a natural pioneer. I gravitate always to the new and untried. I can also teach English. Peter and I, we admire what you are doing here. Your taking a terrible chance," said Maggie. She is in her mid-forties, dark hair and slender dark features. Her son is eight, nervous slim and precocious.

"It is the natural next step. We hope to set a standard that countries on Earth can reach for."

"That is good enough for me," said Maggie.

"You can have a compound about a kilometre down Area "A". Number 26. Claire and the other women will be staying there," said Iscar.

Maggie was about to say something. Mel stopped her.

"That will be just fine. Thank you very much," said Mel. They left to find their new home.

The two Chinese women were waiting patiently to talk to Iscar. They were showing signs of a hard life on their faces. Perhaps they were over 50 years.

"Hello. I am Iscar MacNeal. " she says in clear Chinese, shakes their hands and smiles warmly. " Yes, we know. I am Flora and this is my friend Belle. We came to the Moon on one of the first flights. There were fifteen of us then. We are the last two still living."

"You are welcome." She gives both of them a hug. There are tears all around. " I know something of your story. "

"Yes. We were kept for the men's pleasure. Never were we allowed to marry. Even though there were a few men that would have been happy to wed us," said Flora.

"Well you will be free here. Would you like to work with Claire? She will need some strong backs in the warehouse."

"Oh, thank you very much. We would love to," said Flora.

"Compound 26 in Area "A". You will be with Claire and Mel."

They ran off happily holding each others hands like children.

Iscar moved back to lean against the tunnel wall. She let out a sigh to relieve the pain and tiredness.

* * *

In the second week Iscar came down to visit the Bluk compound, named after Claire Bluk. Although many would call it Mel's compound. It was an hour before lunch. Mel was alone working in the kitchen, very much at home. He had a large pot of soup boiling on the portable cooker. He was dicing up some carrots on the counter.

"That smells good. You are the cook?" asked Iscar.

"I am the official cook. Soup is my specialty. How are you Iscar?"

"Not bad. Just dropped in to see how you are doing."

"You must have more important things to do. Do you want some?" He held up a bowl, moving his eyes to the bowl and then to her.

"Yes. I would love to try some."

He ladled out a bowl and put it on the table, then fetched her a large spoon. Everything in the kitchen was clean and well arranged.

"Good eating. You want anything else?" asked Mel.

"You ran a restaurant in Beta 1?" asked Iscar.

"Most of a year. It made good money. Soups and sandwiches."

"But you left anyway?" She inquired.

"You know about the charges. I am not guilty of selling hard drugs to minors. "

"I believe you. But you did sell them. The cocaine and heroin?"

"Stopped months ago. That is when I started getting in trouble. The commander lost his smack source. He came to me and I refused to help him." Explained Mel.

"But you did deal in Hashish?"

"Yes, just a little. Just as a favour for friends. I don't need the aggravation. I care about the children just as much as you do. You got a question?"

Iscar squirmed a little in her chair. She liked this young man. He was a little immature and certainly drew out her motherly instincts. She was also very attracted to him.

"I need your help. I have many physical problems, all my children and bad genes make it impossible for the doctors to do much for me. The pain you know. I need a regular supply of hashish."

"Your not trying to trap me? "

"As long as you have spoken truthfully to me, today. I don't care at all what you do. You could say I got something on you and you got something on me. You got another bowl of soup?"

"Yes, help yourself."

"You leave the stuff with Claire. She will see that I get it," said Iscar.

Iscar was informed that processing of the many immigrants for Beta 2 were being delayed. She was on the phone for much of the day talking to her contacts in Canada. It would now not be until April before the people could arrive. She was still confident that the Canadian mining companies would be delayed with their plans. Enough time to allow a band of "unregistered" to escape Earth via the SpacePort.

Avril came to visit the MacNeal Compound in March.

"Hello." She said. Sticking her head in and seeing Iscar sitting at a long oval table by the Kitchen door.

"Please come in. Have a seat." She started to move her paperwork to one side.

"Don't let me interrupt you."

"Don't you worry about that, anything is better than this paperwork. My name is Iscar."

"Everyone knows who you are. I am Avril Arrow. Live in Beta 1. You know. In the commune with The Irish People."

"Are you a musician? No, you do the posters. I like your stuff," said Iscar.

"I am a graphics designer. When not working on Disc covers or posters, I do a lot of media work with the school system."

"I have tried some painting. Was doing well until I got busy having children," said Iscar.

"You can always start again. Children will grow up."

"Ya, if I just live that long."

"You must be wondering why I am here."

"I suppose you will tell me when you're ready." Laughed Iscar. Avril joined in.

"I will get you some coffee. " offered Iscar

Iscar quickly returned with two steaming cups. "Always have a pot on."

"I just had an idea and thought you might be interested. Something Beta 1 doesn't want me to do," said Avril.

"Already sounds interesting."

"I have been trying to convince the powers of Beta 1 to put up murals in the walking corridors. I was willing to give them my expertise and time to see the place dressed up a bit. I would only allow very professional work."

"And you would like to do that here?"

"If you are interested," said Avril.

"You do good work. I would be honoured if you would work here. "

"We could start right outside the door. Just to test it out. You could help," said Avril.

"Sounds interesting. What is involved?"

"I would have to move some equipment over here. It will take some time to do the first project."

"You want to make murals, that is fine with me. That room over there is free. You can put everything in there until the settlers arrive. You know you are the first person in weeks to come here without asking for something."

"I thought I was."

"It feels like your giving something to me," answered Iscar.

Avril spent many hours each week, working in her new studio. When she needed a break, she played with the children or held the new little baby girl that Iscar just had.

Iscar was a very good painter. She also learned quickly how to use the equipment and added greatly to the depth and richness of their first mural. Iscar lost herself in that old forest scene.

She had many ideas about what could be done to decorate the atrium and many of the workplaces.

"Avril, in a week we are going to have a mass of people in here. We need to complete the mural and get your equipment back to Beta 1."

"Oh, Iscar. I could have worked here forever. It was such a pleasure."

* * *

Will came up with a method to make the final plastic reproduction a part of the wall. He found the resin to protect it from damage and allow the bots to clean over that wall with high powered hoses.

"Well howdy do. That really is something." exclaimed Will. Looking over the completed creation.

After everything was in place. The picture of the old rainforest undergrowth, drew the eye into it's depths. The colours were rich and dark.

Avril stood looking at her work. She was very sad.

"You could ask Pat to move in with us. We would be glad to have you both," said Iscar.

"No it would not work. He works too close with the Irish People. Much of the last Month he has been managing there tour on Earth. They should be back next week. And I need to be there when he comes."

"You don't seem to be too happy about it."

"He is a good man, but a little insensitive. Especially when he gets together with Calhoun. Calhoun is bringing a girlfriend. I hope she is nice. I hear she is rather young."

"Juneau Jackson "

"How did you know?" asked Avril.

"She is coming with one of our people, an old boyfriend. He is going to be sleeping in your studio," said Iscar.

---

Toronto was turning out to be a disappointment.

After my eight month stay in the West, this new job was not ever enough to compensate for my loss of friends. Conception Nano Inc. was a fine company. It gives me challenges every day. But when the job is finished I have nothing to look foreward to.

My rooms, in the attic of the ancestral home of Glenn Gould is stimulating. And being in walking distance of my parents is appreciated.

So, what is the problem, you ask?

Well what about living in a city where I was born and I not having a friend. The one girlfriend I had, has now taken up with a work buddy. I was relieved really, when she left.

All these feelings. What can I do with the loneliness? Why does no one else feel it or acknowledge it? They steer away from me.

When we meet in business it is all words and ideas. Then the meeting is over; they pat each other on the back and head for the bar. I am not invited. I do not go. It eats at me. The fear of not having a purpose, and the fear of having a purpose.

When I go to parties, I watch as the room slowly empties. Each person chooses to be somewhere else. It must be me! But is that an Ego thing? Can I mess up a party just by being me?

Soon the job will end. A contract job whose time is about up.

I know where I am not wanted. Perhaps the West again. Anywhere but here.

It is 6:00 am and I am up munching on sourdough toast and sipping gourmet coffee.

Juneau phones me early, April first.

"Good morning Gordie. Are you sitting down?" I was sitting down.

"Good morning yourself." I asked. " I am not in the mood for surprises."

I was in deep with this young woman. We know each so well.

My mood today is deep loneliness and unsettled. Everything is about to change and she will bring that about.

A long pause. Just silence! "Why are you doing this to me? Get it over with." I asked.

"You have to come. And do not expect to return soon. In five days I will meet you at the Saskatoon Central Station." She gives me a phone number and a meeting time.

"I have just finished my contract with Conception Nano Inc." She accepts my statement as a yes.

"Love and prayers. Peace and primordial icons. We meditate in the One Ether."

"Love and may confusion lead to answers," I reply.

"We are searchers, we are seekers. May the pain of separation lead us into truth." June signs off.

The pain of separation. I have not heard it said that way. I say good-bye to emptiness on the other end.

I do know that it is now three months since any invitation has come from work or the association. You know all the extra perks that come with a high-flying job.

In Toronto, I have no friends. I was born here. Am educated here. Work here. I am twenty-two years old and I have no friends.

No friends here or ever!

Only a trip last year to Saskatchewan and the West Coast freed me for a time. It seemed every day out there I met people like myself in the restaurants, in the classes at the university and even where I boarded.

They felt this loneliness. They talked about it. Hoped I had some answers.

But no. I have no answers. We shared this feeling as mutual friends do. Any friend of loneliness is a friend of mine.

I began, on the prairies, to study Meditation and Zen. I even spent a week at a Zen Ashram, in Vancouver, to reach for another level.

Maybe I have found something. I do not care as much what others think of me. A new level of loneliness. But I am more restless and yet more in tune with the One. Perhaps it is just the season. April is the month of movement and growth.

I ask myself. Why does everything have to be so hard? Why must it hurt so much? Where is it going? Why is there no one in my family who I can talk to?

I feel so selfish to be dwelling on these questions. But it is my world and I must come to know it.

I am not a good person. Much of my youth has been pre-occupied with fantasies and obsession with sexual desire. Not that I have carried these out. Most of the women in my life have only wanted to talk. I have always been happy to listen.

Now that I am old enough to have a sexual life, the great questions squash my desires when opportunities arise.

The job is over. I say my good-byes. People do not understand why I am leaving for the prairies without any job. I do not try to explain. They do not seem really that interested.

Their lives flow through their fingers like grains of sand. I do not understand how anyone can live a life of events without asking the Great questions! They dismiss me as some crazy mystic who will come to no good. Well maybe I do not know anything about how they feel. They are as much a mystery to me as the Divine One. Maybe they fulfill His purpose in a way that I have yet to understand. Bye bye Toronto.

Catching the Hover ship from Harbour Front, we passengers sit back and stare out the windows. The long trim craft speeds across Lake Ontario. It bypasses the falls over land, then continues on Lake Erie, Lake Sinclair, then Lake Huron and lastly through a narrow strait into the wide Lake Superior. It only takes four hours, in all, to find the dock at Thunder Bay. I am feeling quite calm and lightheaded today. A new beginning.

We disembark for the SuperTrain to Manitoba. In Winnipeg, I take a slower train that brings me to the Saskatoon Central Station.

Juneau Jackson jumps me at the rail station. We have a quick hug, while she tells me to hurry to catch our waiting ride.

We board an old military bus parked outside. The green antique is full of young couples and children excitedly chattering.

We find an empty seat near the back, throw hand luggage up into the overhead rack and sit down to snuggle up with each other. We are always like this. Holding each other. Sometimes talking, sometimes not.

The town does not seem to have changed much, even with all the activity around the Aerospace port. They traipse through this town continuously to the Silverheals Lift Port, South of Thieves Bay.

"Where are we going, June?" I asked.

"I can not tell you yet. It's very good to see you too, Gordie. We have to get married!"

I looked at her with a little surprise and suspicion.

"Tell me what this is all about."

June is watching me closely. I give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

The bus is on its way North, taking Highway 44 out of the city.

"Look, I trust that wherever this is leading, it will be good for both of us." I say to reassure her.

"I have a job offer with the Lunar North Corp. I had to tell them you are my husband." She smiles my way. " I applied for you as well. You have an interview with Lunar-Can Mining at 9:00 tomorrow morning."

What could I say? "Thank you very much."

It is the year 2055 AD. The Chinese are building and have settled Lunar North with 30,000 persons over the last ten years.

Canada is a pioneer in supplying much of the advanced boring equipment; laser cutters and automated systems needed to construct their ten planned Habitats.

We arrive at the base late in the evening, finding ourselves with an upper and lower bunk in common sleeping quarters. It takes me a while in the upper bunk to relax and fall asleep. She is so close, but the surroundings are not encouraging.

I wake at five the next morning. June is snoring quietly. I have a quick shower then after dressing, make my way out into the compound. The sun is not up but the sky is bright in the east, very clear air and very still. Dew hangs on tuffs of grass growing between the bunkhouses.

I walk West to where, my ears tell me, the Port runways must be. I soon come up against a tall intimidating fence, keeping me at a distance.

Five companies have come together to build this place. Three from Calgary, two from Toronto have invested in the research and development needed to bring this enterprise about. The aircraft, the spacecraft. Aerospace Assist Inc.

The runways used are 24 km long. One strip East to West. Another field North to South. The Prairie, where we are now, is unbelievably flat to those who have not lived here. The asphalt is cheap and plentiful, from the vast oilsands fields to the West in Alberta.

I flashed on a small field near Saskatoon, where I had taken flying lessons the previous summer. Friday mornings, Saturdays and Sundays until my motor scooter died. The old Cessna humming like a top as I taxied to the runway. My instructor praising me on my quickness in learning to land with the strong prairie side winds. Twenty-five hours, twelve as solo. I was just getting the hang of the radio routines and overcoming my shyness in talking to the tower. Then a call from Toronto. A technical challenge and a paycheck I could not refuse.

That was another time. Everything has changed.

I find my way back to the bunkhouse without meeting anybody. June is up and gone, so I ask directions to the cafeteria.

"You were up early," comments Juneau as I sit down across from her at a long table. A few men and women are quietly munching cereal and eggs across from each other. My tray is loaded with a large plate of pancakes with maple syrup and butter, a large steaming cup of mocha-coffee and a small glass of grapefruit juice.

"Your interview is at the administrative building." Juneau tells me.

I look at my watch. It is 7:10 am "You really expect me to come to the moon with you?" I ask.

I am not mad at her. I could never do anything but love those beautiful brown eyes and those high cheekbones. She told me her father was a RCMP officer stationed in Atlin, BC. Her mother was a young native woman living with an Uncle and Aunt in a hunting cabin 50 km into the bush. Her parent's marriage had lasted ten years. She lived with her father until she started Musical Theory in University of Saskatchewan.

"I have a friend working in Lunar North. He asked me to come and join him. But musicians and baby-sitters are not in big demand. If I am married to a nano specialist like you, then they will take me. You just say we are married. We will not have to show any papers."

"Ah, starting out on a lie. Not the best of starts," I commented.

---

At least I have June with me for a little longer.

We are strapped in, shoulder and waist. The shuttle is picking up speed as it moves smoothly down the long runway. The nose of the craft flips up at a steep angle and we are airborne.

The tug plane is dragging us unpowered, up to an altitude of 25 km, on a long carbide cable.

The rockets soon fire to take us up to our sling station. The first swing grabbed me harder than I ever expected. I nearly loose lunch when we are released into Lunar vector.

We will pass on to another sling in mid-Earth Moon position and finally the craft will be captured by one Lunar orbiting sling which will slow us with gut wrenching effect into a high orbit.

Our overhead luggage now contains our personal excursion suits. We are personally responsible for their maintenance and upkeep. We spent most of yesterday learning how to quickly squirm into them and operate the radio. They promised us, now that we have left Earth's gravity, that the suits will fit properly. A whole day of weightless inactivity is taking its toll. June is distracted and irritated with some of my personal habits. I have my Pad out most of the time researching some control procedures for a nano project I am working on. Cyber Internet teams, like mine, are paid well to come up with solutions to difficult problems. I am impressed that the Web is steady, even here, halfway between the Earth and the Moon.

The pilot's cockpit is in good spirits. Whenever the door is open, laughing and singing can be heard. I watch a beautiful young woman with long flaming red hair open the cockpit door and float aft. June is watching me with a smile on her face. 'Red' must have gone into the freight area. Later she returns and the cockpit is again laughing.

I love those null gravity toilets. Do not sit too long or they will pull your insides out.

Juneau is sleeping now. I am resting, daydreaming, holding her hand. Tomorrow will be here soon enough.

The Lunar program. Quite a news item back in 2036. I was three years old. Despite many programs, over the years, by the U.S. to settle into Lunar South, companies did not want to invest the large sums needed to make it a success. The programs were ill conceived and under funded.

Much money was invested in the Earth's asteroid belt. Small very expensive ships were sent to map and investigate potential high ore planetoids. Companies did some mining but there is no profit in iron ore up in space. Earth's iron ore still is plentiful. The gold and platinum finds plunged Earth prices into collapse. Water is more valuable. But rocket fuel needs to be separated with expensive equipment.

Then news broke, in 2045, of a massive movement of spacecraft into Earth orbit. The Chinese were on their way to Lunar North. Within weeks they had the first industrial strength sling in Earth orbit.

It was no small project. They established a temporary camp 50 km South of the North pole, with masses of equipment to begin tunneling deep into the Lunar rock. Americans watched closely from Moon orbit.

Within weeks hundreds of tons of rich moon minerals were being sorted and crushed and refined for future use. Then the settlement went underground. Into the tunnels cleared and made habitable for a long term stay. The first Habitat at Alpha Station was home to 3000 Chinese specialists. Nine more Habs were built, over a mining project of ten years. Each new Hab built on the knowledge learned from previous omissions and mistakes. Families, parents and children became the norm. Children were born and raised to be a permanent moon population. Much criticism was aimed at China for crippling thousands of their young. Persons that would never experience the wonders of Earth.

All during the Chinese program, Canada played a key role. Mining, communication and aerospace companies were contracted, in my country, to supply equipment and personnel. When political problems, during the Shanghai Banks scandal, threatened to stop a lucrative mineral export business, arrangements were made to build a spaceport in Saskatchewan near Thieves Bay. The Land was leased from the Riel Native Autonomous Region. Hundreds of hi-tech and labour jobs opened to local peoples.

[see Armann's Weekly Journal" ]

The sling at mid-point was a welcome distraction. We pulled 3 Gs for four minutes.

The Chinese have finished 10 habitats on the Moon, known as Alpha Sector. Canada intends to complete another 10 Habs called Beta Sector. I am heading for Beta 2. Beta 1 holds most of the first Canadian settlers. 7000 persons engaged in mining, manufacturing and agriculture. The 7000 that were to settle in Beta 2 have been put on hold due to government interference in the private program. What really is happening seems to be more to do with American intelligence.

The Chinese will never let the U.S. move in next door, so the Americans want the Canadians to stop their operations or at least let the Americans in. The fact is Canadian industry has been closely working with the Chinese Alpha Project since the first flights in 2035 but working with Americans is nothing but a real pain.

The Moon expanded to fill all corners in our right window. In ten hours we will be in orbit and our speed adjusting to park with the Number 4 Passenger Lift Station.

[see moon_image.gif]

I look out at the object coming into view. It lies between the Sea of Tranquility and us. This must be one of those huge Mars craft being readied for the fleet. The coming window of launch is in three months. Already sling stations have been placed in position along the route, to reduce fuel consumption.

China is preparing 6 ships for its own use on the Mars mission and they have sold 4 other shells for a joint Euro-American Mars expedition. The use of moon based ceramic plating along with iron and aluminum cast framing have made lunar orbital dry docks a spectacular success. Solar panels from Alpha North and water base fuels provide much of the energy necessary. The dry dock crews are a very international group hired through commercial contractors.

Two shuttle landing frames have attached to the rear half of our ship. We move forward into first-class with our suits and hand luggage. The crew have secured pressure doors removing air from the back half. We now go through the suiting up procedures and radio tests. 700 of us move back into the rear area through a small hatch door. Then it closes. Both sides of the ship are open wide to space.

Cables secure our route out to the Frames, rocket controlled landing craft not much more complicated than a domino with a slow burn. 350 of us go left, 350 go right. Holding fast to her tether June finds a seat and pulls a securing brace down over her shoulders. I file in beside her. The frame is packed to the gills with freight. All around us are boxes covered with shiny aluminum foil and secured with packing straps.

The frame crew wastes no time in pushing off from the ship. Already two other frames are moving in. We tip over so the moon is on my forehead as I look up. It is in total darkness with just hints of its monstrous presence. The rockets fire, slowing our orbit and starting the descent. We fall quickly, without any sensation, until the kick in the pants when the jets reverse. They cut in again then cut out. The frame is approaching the North Pole. We spin around for a while and the Earth is hanging there, small and bright. Then spin again. We are slowing our orbital speed and falling closer. Then we jump into the light. We see the fine details of craters and seas. Lunar North habitats are approaching. I see flashes from the solar farms. It is only now that I realize that we will not be using the Far Side rail.

North of a long line of solar panels are, what looks like mass graves, as photographed from the air.

This must be the refined minerals and tailings. Everything is neatly stacked and parallel parked. Shadows cover the landing field. Inadequate lighting reveals a flat concrete landing pad and several service vehicles waiting for the passengers and freight.

We had been warned to move slowly and take short steps. All of us stand in lost wonder. Then walk the ramp to join the crew standing on the Lunar surface. Most suits in the flood lights, shine in their many coloured splendour. A new dark blue suit walks recklessly over to my June and grabbed her by the shoulders swinging her around. Calhoun is the one holding my summer love. Calhoun is going to take her away. I stand alone gazing, then start looking around.

To the West, I see nothing but a long flat plain. To the East, much the same, with maybe a rim of a small crater on the horizon. To the South, a group of horizontal lines that must be the solar farms. I can make out two lines of conveyors to the North-West and a few large black boxes.

"Thank you for everything, Gordie. This is Tahara Gospel, an old friend of mine from Saskatoon." Three undistinguished faces stared back at me through highly shaded suit helmets. I shook her hand and Calhoun's hand. "Tahara will take you over to Beta 2," said June.

Soon enough Tahara is leading me away to a large open bus. Inside we stand, holding onto waist high railings, while the vehicle rolls at top speed across the rough terrain until it reached the opening to a tunnel.

There are only twelve of us making our way on foot to the airlock. The outer door stands open with an attendant standing by. We walk into a space that could take a score more. The door shuts, air is pumped in, and we emerge into what looked like a men's locker room. Here we clean our almost spotless suits and hang them up on designated hooks.

"It is not far to the MacNeal Compound. Number 5 is hard to miss," Tahara says.

I comb my hair and take a good look at my young guide. She is dress in faded green overalls and a wrinkled black tee shirt. Her long straight black hair is tied back in a loose pony tail. Her face is long with a healthy chin and she would be pretty if she could remember to smile.

"We have to go." She says as she turns away, headed for the doorway. Tahara waits briefly there, sees me watching her, then turns right and disappears. I followed as best I can in the one sixth gravity. At the doorway I touch the wall. It has a smooth creamy finish. The walkway tunnel is coated from top to floor in the same coating. The floor is rendered with more texture, so people will not slip. My guide stands well up the hall with impatience written in her body stance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. This all is very interesting." I say.

"We do not have far to go." she turns and sways on.

A large number on the left wall marks the individual compound entrances.

Then tall Douglas Fir trunks reach up into an invisible sky. Red cedar that three people could not reach around, an old fallen log that speaks of fifty years of rotting, it carries a rich crop of young spring green moss, like hair on top. Such detail! A falling leaf suspended in time. A lean red fox glancing out from behind a tall green fern leaf. Small blue flowers poking up out of a bed of pine needles at the base of the wall. Both sides of the hall, for the full length of the compound, depicted a old growth forest. I felt that I knew this place. Certainly, I have been in old growth forests before and the detail I see here is amazing. I could almost smell the skunk cabbage growing in that shallow rocky creek.

Whoever had painted the walls must have spent weeks in the fine detail.

"Iscar never does anything by halves." Comments Tahara. " Please go in. They are expecting you."

The entrance was an arched doorway, cut into the tunnel wall or actually a succession of three walls until the last one reached an open courtyard. Children are playing on monkey bars directly across from the entrance. To my left there is a slim woman loading a table with food, a stout bearded fellow seated, playing a guitar and another older man with a fine concentrated smile working on something at a workbench.

[ The Compound]

The children's chatter stops. I have been noticed.

The slim woman at the table comes round pushing hair out of her eyes, holding a young child on her hip. The guitar man stands up beside her. The man at the workbench moved close to her other side. Around her housedress stands the three young girls who had been playing.

My head feels light. I feel like I am looking down a long slope. Time stops. They smile and I know this is home.

"My name is Gordon. Gordon Singh. Just came from Earth." I say.

The older man made a move to approach me, then the woman with the child on her hip moves forward and grasp my hand. She smiled warmly through discoloured teeth.

"Welcome Gordon, my name is Iscar MacNeal, my husband Will, and this is Halfdan and these are my girls."

I still have that floating feeling and some anticipation.

"I came on short notice and have not been briefed." I state.

"You will be staying with us. Halfdan can show you your room. We do not stand on ceremony here. So settle in. Supper will be ready shortly." Says Iscar. I talk to each adult briefly, while the children look on.

I am shown my room which included a long single bed, a plain chair, a large desk, a closet and a small sink. More than enough room for me. The room still had the scent of its last occupant.

The bath house was off the courtyard on the South wall. It was used in common.

I could smell a strong curry coming from the kitchen and my stomach was telling me it needed a good meal.

The seven year old followed me quietly wherever I went. Her name is Ghita. Precocious, smart, slim, dressed in shorts no shirt or shoes.

"What is it like on the Earth? I have a grandfather there in the Rocky Mountains." She smiled a toothless grin up at me.

I sat on a bench, waiting for dinner, in the courtyard, not far from the kitchen.

"Mama, makes good food. She is good at everything." I smiled at her.

Ghita seemed to be a combination of the strongest traits of both her mother and her father.

"I don't doubt she is, Ghita. Do you know where Tahara is?"

I had only just remembered her and noticed she was not around.

"She went down to Mel's place. Should be back tonight."

"Does she live here too?" I found that I did care if she returned.

"Oh, no. Got thrown out last month. I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"I will ask her myself then."

"She is not very happy. Papa thinks she should leave Lunar North."

I changed the topic. "Were you born here?"

"Not me. I am from Canada." She said proudly. " But my sisters are. Mama got fixed to have no more babies. Are you a going to help us?" Ghita asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Mama says there is so much to do and no time." Ghita says.

"Of course I will help. If there is anything I can do for you, just ask." She puts her arms around my waist and gives me my first Lunar hug.

Supper finally comes. No one wastes any time getting to the table. The food is plentiful and delicious. Will tries to make me feel at home. "Right now you might feel like a fish out of water but be patient. Everything will come to you in time. Any questions? We will be glad to answer them."

Tahara sat eating slowly with her head down a little separate from the others at the long table. "Tahara will show you around the Habitat tomorrow. Introduce you to Frank the Mining Super and steer you back here. Do not worry about working for a couple of days. You need time to get used to the place."

Iscar said. Her eyes were laughing. Her eyes looked straight into mine. It all felt very right and reassuring.

It was good to rest after the hectic pace of the last few days. It has been months since I had a break from work.

The mattress in my room is thin but feels comfortable. Lights in the courtyard dim by 10:00 PM.

---

I am up with the first stirrings in the compound. It is 5:30. My room is right off the kitchen entrance on the lower floor. I hear whispering, some talking, coming from the MacNeal apartment up on the second level left of the kitchen. A fireman's pole allows entrance and exit. A man on the Moon can jump 5 or 6 metres with a pole for help. The children come down this morning as if they are born sailors.

Iscar is in the kitchen stirring up a hot multi-grain cereal and making some juice and coffee.

Tahara appears briefly nibbling on a fruit bar and asks if I am ready.

"Do not rush the man, Hari" insisted Iscar.

"Frank, will be in conference by 7:30. He asked me to bring him by early." She replies dryly.

I finish every last crumb then stand and follow her strong nervous back out into the corridor.

"Frank is working on the far side of the Hab." She said.

This woman leads me in a zigzag path passed stairways, lifts, compounds, an industrial districts. I take it slow to try to grasp the grand design of Beta 2.

The colony depended on mineral extraction and ceramic manufacturing. Aluminum and calcium. And lots of silicon for fiberglass and optics.

Tahara leaves me abruptly, in Frank's office. "Bye, bye sad lamb." I say to her back.

Monitors filled two walls showing the activities of a tunnel mining outfit. The dust, the mass of cutting lasers, steam rising from the ice-rich rock. The slow but steady progress of the tunnel boreworms, turning and pressing forward 50 metres each hour under normal conditions. The conveyers passing fist-sized to gravel-sized rubble and tons of dust, out to the dozens of crushers, just a few hundred metres North of Beta 2. In the tunnels, men wisely stay away from the automatic equipment. One random swipe of intense laser light would be more effective than the sharpest Japanese sword.

"I see you arrived in good shape. " Frank is standing in the middle of his office, reading my resume on screen three. " We need an operator here. For the tunnel finishing work. Iscar says our meeting is only a formality. You will be working for her. "

"What ever Iscar says. I only just arrived. It is rather disorientating."

"I will give you a User ID and a password. Familiarize yourself with the system. Our crew is a bit short because of the delays Earthside. I could have used you." He keeps a watch on his many screens as he is talking to me. Typing in on several keyboards and touch-screens as he speaks. This is a man who has little ease when talking with people.

I asked him how to get back to my commune. He showed me where to find the maps on my Pad. I decided to do a little exploring. Frank gives me an armband to pass security.

"Keep out of the Eastern tunnels. You will be safe as long as you keep West of this point." He pointed at an icon on my Pad map.

Area "C" was nearing completion. Tunneling machines were already being moved out for the Beta 3 habitat construction. The cutter and shaper robots had already finished with Beta 2's two atriums.

I consulted my maps and made tracks back to the MacNeal Compound. I poked my head into some empty shiny cream-white compounds in Area "C", where no one had yet been or lived. Further West, men and women were pulling long spools of electrical cable, fiber optics through Area "B" into and out of empty compounds working their way South.

I found my way back to Area "A" and my new home.

"Gordie, play with us!" Yelled Ghita and the other two. "Gordie, play with us! Gordie, play with us! " The other two girls are Arvin the 3 year old and Kimberly 5 years old. I sit down on a bench by the sandbox. Ghita climbs onto my right knee, Arvin holds up her short arms to be pulled up onto my left knee. Kim stands grimly looking up at us, with a serious expression, asking nothing. I hold Ghita close and looked around at the activity in the compound.

A beautiful young woman, thick flame red hair in waves across and down her back, is standing there. She is talking to Iscar at the door to the kitchen. They are obviously old friends. The dinner table is covered with smaller and larger opened boxes. Iscar is showing great interest in their contents. The women are joking and laughing. Iscar looks over at me. She grabs at the young woman's arm and leads her over to where I am sitting.

"Allison, this is Gordon Singh. We are hoping he will be with us for a while."

I loosen my arm from Ghita and grasp her hand. "Very good to meet you, Allison. Are you also living with the MacNeals? "

"Iscar gives me a place to stay when I am on Luna. I travel a lot with my business. "

"And what business are you in? "

Iscar makes some sign to Allison. "She's a trader in Herbs and Medicines," said Iscar.

"You were on the ship. Up with the pilots."

"Yes but that is not for everyone to know." Allison said. My first secret.

Halfdan is watching our conversation from across the way. He is pretending to tune Iscar's guitar. Kim holds Allison's pant leg as if she belongs there. Arvin is back in the sandbox, while Ghita sits on my knee arms around my chest, quite at home.

I smiled to Allison, letting her know that I found her very attractive. Then I asked Iscar, "What kind of medical facilities are there here?"

"Nothing much here. Some of us are trained as medics. If anything serious happens we can hop the rail to the Alpha 6 hospital." Iscar explains.

Only 900 settlers have come to Beta 2. And most of them are from other Habitats. Will and Iscar came from Alpha 5, known as the Fish Hab. Aquaculture, Hydroponics, rice with spices and herbs on the side. "Halfdan is going to take you down to the West Atrium after lunch. If you will excuse us now there is work to be done." Iscar waves her hand in the direction of the table, loaded with boxes.

* * *

Halfdan calls into my room after lunch. "Are you ready for the trip down to West Atrium?"

"Just give me a second while I straighten up." I had laid down for a minute and must have slept.

Halfdan went into his room and emerged with an old bag hanging from his left shoulder and a cloth cap that could only have been a refugee from the last century.

"You better put something on your head. The roof is not sealed down there." he instructs.

I fetched a hardhat, marked visitor, from a rack, near the compound entrance.

"What is your part in this family?" I asked Halfdan as I catch up to him in the hall.

"Oh, I do a little of this, and a little of that," he said proudly. "A little guitar picking, a little public relations, a little cooking. " He has also developed a peculiar waddle, maybe because his weight. Maybe because he had lived long enough on Luna and adapted.

I liked him. He is obviously a loner but fits well into this group.

We took a couple of turns then we reached a freight lift. Halfdan explained, "This will take us to ground or should I say soil level. " He laughed at to himself.

The lift dropped smoothly and the door opened on to a corridor the lead to a vast poorly lit cave of straight walls and a tall slanted peak interior ceiling. To the south of us robot dozers were pushing piles of sand into sloped meadows, between rough rock outcroppings.

Halfdan climbed quickly up one outcropping near the center of the Atrium. He held up his arms and spoke in a clear voice. "This is where the revolution begins!"

I walk up to the base of the hill. "And what revolution would that be?"

"Oh, you will find out in time. I should not say too much."

He jumped down the four metres with little effort and started walking North.

"Iscar has a lot of plans for this place. The soil has to be snapped into shape and many new approaches tried, but this is the ground of mankind's launching. "

I was impress with the size and length of the atrium. 68 metres from ground to the cave peak. 79 metres from rock wall to rock wall. 2 K metres long. I could not see either end because the general lighting system had not yet been installed.

"Nobody can grow anything in this sand," I said.

"Soon. Very soon." Halfdan answered.

He led me over to a tool storage area in the West wall. A row of doors had been carved out, each hiding many items, which he now took the trouble to show me.

"We are not going to wait for Canada and the Americans to settle their games." Halfdan showed me, boxes of the latest in robotic equipment. Machines that could be quickly adapted to perform many intricate and difficult tasks. Other doors opened revealed cabling and electrical wiring, fiber optics and many cases of the latest panel lights.

"Some of the manufacturers are secretly sending us what we need, even though they are not receiving payment. We have many under the table deals to get all kinds of equipment for our plans. You are one of them. There is no official record of you or anyone else from your flight leaving or arriving here.

"Officially there are only 40 persons maintaining this Hab. But you must remember over 700 people were on your flight. There will be five more such flights in the next few days."

"How do you see my role in the scheme of things?" I asked.

"Hmm. Well look around you. A lot of work has to be done. Talk to Iscar. She is 'the visionary' and planner around here. I will show you something on our way back."

"Follow me." Shouted Halfdan. He disappeared into an exit door before I could catch up to him. I passed through a walkway tunnel and came to another open cave. Before me lay the East Atrium. Poorly lit as the first. Some activity was going on at the North end.

"It will not be long until this place is ready." Halfdan told me. He stood a few metres out on a large rock. The rubble did not seem stable, so I made no effort to enter.

Halfdan jumped easily back to me and led the way back across the barren sands of West Atrium.

"There should be a science of questions," said Halfdan. " No one in positions of authority is asking the right questions. And without the right questions, how can you get the right answers?"

"Are you thinking of any particular question?" I asked.

"Yes. If I am a moon resident, what do I want to happen with the moon?" He answered.

"And your answer?"

"I want a just society where I can live and work comfortably with my family. Look at the Moon population. Thousands of highly educated families and all those children growing up without the option of going back to live on Earth." He continued.

He continued explaining many things to me standing in the middle of the atrium.

"A man always will strive for property, a good education and good government. These things can not exist on the Moon, unless we consider much greater numbers than we have. To have a quality university with experts in most key subjects requires us to have a million people. To have economic strength we need a population that can defend the whole globe. For good government we must have the numbers again to split from earth's control." Halfdan said. " We are going to try for all of these goals. Soon we will start on two of them. The gardens will be planted putting us on the road to self-sufficiency and the numbers will start coming." He turned away and I followed him back up the way we had come.

But instead of taking me directly back he stopped just down the hall. We turned into a few dusty office rooms.

"We are a minutes walk from the main rail car station and close to the airlock leading to the surface. Iscar is holding these rooms for you. Like Frank you are going to be very busy."

I held my comments as usual. Time is a good teacher.

---

We sat around picking the tofu out of our teeth. Dinner at the MacNeal Compound was a success. Calhoun Leonard and Patrick Wilson were visiting from Beta 1, the first and only Canadian Habitat as yet. Their compound now included my friend Juneau, whom I greatly missed in all the chaos around me.

Iscar was being the polite host. She obviously knew these tall, longhaired men in faded black jeans. They were very respectful of her.

"Theirs is a Music Commune. A recording centre." She explained to me. "We help each other out on occasion. "

"June sends her greeting, love and all that." Says Calhoun to me.

"I hope she can make it over for a visit," I said, with some hope in my voice.

Calhoun only makes a grimace and starts talking to the group. "A shipment of hardwoods should be coming in on Friday. Someone here can stop by to pick out the choice bits. We are planning a party that night and invite you-all to come."

We had to decline because of our work obligations; we took a rain check. They left soon after. I asked to be filled in.

Will explained. "The commune is home to the rock band the 'Irish People'. They are not always on Luna but can afford such extravagance as a recording studio and their own ship. When they are here, they help us and we help them. Very friendly and laid back."

Iscar spoke, " They have made much of this possible. Their craft has been much used over the last year. Calhoun and Pat, although they are morally retro, are roadies to the band. They keep everything running smoothly.

"Pat's girlfriend Avril is lovely." Says Iscar. "I expect her over soon to visit and play with the children. She and I worked together for months to produce the graphics scene out in the hall."

My ears perked, this Avril is marked on my calendar. " How was your day Will?"

He sat back in a homemade armchair, smoking his old pipe starring into space. He held his head as if he could see the inside of his own skull. A smile graced his lips. "We can expect some people and supplies soon. We are all going to be very busy."

Halfdan asked, "Yes, but can we carry it through to the end?"

"We will transform our way of living. We have set out on a path that promises success. Need we make all the old mistakes?" asks Iscar.

"What do you think are the mistakes that we might repeat here on Luna." I asked.

Iscar and the rest starred silently at me. She answered me in a quiet but forceful voice. " You could say the mistakes that have already occurred on Luna. Just the old autocratic and dictatorial ways. The strong control by large corporations. The working people must control our economy. We think that the pattern we saw being established here, in Beta Sector, needs to be very forcefully transformed. We must be free people, but again we need consultative assemblies with democratic controls in our own lives.

"The communes must have their own local assemblies. There must also be a Lunar Assembly, a consultative body, with ultimate authority over every man on the Moon."

Halfdan says. "We on Luna want our own nation. There are many, both here in North Luna and also in South Luna, who have similar feeling."

I kept quiet. There was no going back. But I needed some time to think.

They were still looking at me waiting for something. "Well I have a lot to sleep on tonight."

Iscar laughed. Will puffed on his pipe and smiled. Allison shook out her long red hair, starting to braid it for the night. Halfdan was again tuning the guitar, glancing at Allison every so often.

Halfdan started to play an old American folk tune. His rhythm was a little off, but no one seemed to notice. Later Iscar took a turn playing an old love ballad from the 1960s.

Will took the children off to bed. Allison and Halfdan soon disappeared in different directions.

I was singing along with Iscar about a big yellow taxi, or was it a cloud with two sides.

"Thank you, for the evening." I said to her. "I have not sung so much in years."

"You have a beautiful voice. "

"I wish I could play an instrument like you," I said.

"You are going to meet many musicians and musical people while you're here. Very few have such a melodic singing voice like yours."

We were sitting at the now cleared dining table, starring directly at each other. Being held. The mutual feeling that we understood each other, that we had been friends, solid companions in some other time.

I reached out my hand and she grasps it across the polished enameled table. It was a kind of love I had not experienced before. It felt right. There was so much trust. I knew I could trust her. She must have known I would do anything for her. It was something like in my Zen studies. In meditation you reach a new level.

I started singing one of the songs that I sang on long walks in the woods of North Ontario. Just softly, almost a whisper. A song of Christ and Trust and God and Gems. Every word carried us away. The others must have heard us that night. Nothing was ever said about it.

The next morning I was up early. I had asked Iscar for some home chores. I looked around in the kitchen trying to find where everything was kept. The stove was a copy of a 19th century wood stove. It was ceramic construction and heated with a hydrogen / oxygen flame system.

Will was up, I saw him coming out of the shower room. We nodded to each other as he crossed the compound and jumped up the pole to his flat.

I found the spices on shelves, well labeled, by the stove. Flour and grains of various sorts in cupboards under the window. Herbs hanging from racks which hung on wires from hooks in the ceiling. Some fruit under clear covers, others in the cooler. Frozen vegetables in the freezer.

All the kitchen items ran from the two gas lines, white and blue pipes coming in from the ceiling, terminating in an large pink meter box.

I mixed up some buckwheat pancake batter, oiled and heated the griddle. I then cut and squeezed some oranges and limes, added sugar and fresh water. Lastly I started the coffee drip-feeding and spread the table with utensils, margarine and sauces.

Iscar stood sleepily at the door, still in her bathrobe. "I smelt the coffee. Remind me to give you a raise."

I pored her a cup, black and hot. Then myself with a splash of soymilk. We sat across the table from each other. Contemplating last night and the days to come. "I will give you codes today to start your learning cycle. Halfdan will help you set up some Vid screens in you room." said Iscar.

"I would like to get the profiles of all the people I will be working with. Perhaps I should have the profiles of all persons arriving here in the next few days."

"No problem. I will see that you get it."

Will fetched coffee from the kitchen. "Mmm, We now have someone else who really can brew the Java!"

"I hear that you have been doing work on musical instruments. I would like to see your work," I said.

"No problem." He nodded to me to follow him. We both carried our coffee to his workshop, which used one of the first level rooms near the entrance. As he unlatched the door a strong scent of cedar, maple and many unknown wood scents, struck my nose. With the lights on, I could see wood hanging from all surfaces. One guitar under repair lay on a workbench. Two dulcimers partially assembled. One sitar with a broken gourd hung on a far wall. "I have not figured out how to fix that one yet." Will commenting on the sitar.

A small bandsaw sat at the far end of the shop. "This is my main powertool. The blade is made of glass reinforced with carbon fiber. It is extremely thin and sharp."

We sat on stools near the middle of the room sipping from our cups. He gave me an overview of his experiences and aspirations.

Wood had always called to him, when he was a child growing up near a resort town on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. Some old growth giant trees, Douglas fir, red and yellow cedars still grow there. When he was a teenager, he and his mother walked the beaches, finding rare woods, which she would mark with radio-chips for buyers later to fetch. For a time he was able to prosper from his own workshop, making furniture. Then marriage and a child came. Because Iscar was a much-noted young social engineer, the offer came from Chinese sources to join their early Alpha project. Will was able to gather a library of agricultural and arboreal knowledge before leaving. She specialized in social engineering of the Habs, making the commune structure her focus, while he dedicated himself to packing as much botanical variety into the atriums, insisting on all types of trees and auxiliary plants. This caused friction with the authorities. Many of the trees could not prove their value in providing quick food or material to the Habs. When the Canadian Habs started, they applied for transfer. They were denied. It looked like a return to Earth. Then the political debacle.

"We just left Alpha 5 one day and moved in here. No one could physically stop us, although we were warned. We have many friends that are also dissatisfied with the strict government rules in the Alpha sector. There are more expecting to join us. "

"The ones coming from Earth, I will be reviewing the data today. Are they bringing children as well?"

"We saw no reason to put any limits on admission," explained Will.

I thanked him for filling me in. He gave me a slap on the back. "Anyone who is a friend of my wife's is a friend of mine." I shook his hand and stood to depart for his workshop.

"Things are about to get a lot more complicated, remember to keep your cool and a sense of humour," he said with a grin.

Two hours later, I had a better perspective on what was happening.

An organization working out of Spadina Rd. in old Toronto was inspired to give Aboriginal and ancestral black Canadians a new start in space. One hundred percent of the our new arrivals were native and black Canadians. They have secret backers, with substantial ownership in Lunar-Can Mining. Many who are hoping for a new direction in the company. So far the five flights already on their way have not caused much of a stir at home.

[see Armann's Journals ]

There is another group, of equal size, coming after an unspecified time. I suspect China will assist with spacecraft for the second wave. It could be that Canada is covertly giving the nod to relieve racial tensions around crowded Toronto, which now has a population of twelve million.

Also new Habitats are already being started next door. Extra tunnel boring machines are being assembled for Beta 3 and 4. The new 5 metre front piece will become standard issue cut for the Beta Sector. For the first time two Habs will be constructed simultaneously. Many of the tunneling equipment parts are being manufactured in Beta 1 under contract to our new organization.

Because of problems Earthside, our Lunar community has been doing a lot of horse trading both Moonside and Earthside and faring well from it.

Still the Chinese have plans to add Alpha 11 and 12 this summer. Can you talk about summer on the Moon?

Water is a product of refining. Six percent, on average, of all rock mined at Lunar North is water. Or you could call it rocket fuel. Hydrogen and oxygen. The Hab locations are on a circle marking a distance of 50 km from the physical North Pole. A policy right from the start was that nothing within a radius of 25 km of the pole is to be touched. The Americans have pursued a different course to the South.

About 15% of the rock is Aluminum, 12% calcium, 6% iron and of course large quantities of silicon. Pure silicon, not stained with iron traces is used in fiber optical strands.

But Ceramics is the big deal. Custom plates of ceramic material made to Earth's orders are lifted into orbit, and assembled, Lego block style, into fine spacecrafts. Spacecraft with rocket engines powered by hydrogen and oxygen. Also erected are large laser arrays, secured to high towers near the pole, powered by our giant fuel cells and solar panels, to propel ships to distant locations in the solar system on the push from a wheatfield of laser beams. Fuel cells powered by the same hydrogen and oxygen and locally made amorphous silicon solar arrays.

---

A large warehouse is located on the fourth level, Area "B". Using my map I easily found my way. Few people were about in the tunnels.

A woman, I know only as Claire Bluk, is in charge of the warehouse. Iscar told me to talk to her. The wide door is securely closed. An intercom gets me a male voice, so I tell him who I am and ask for Claire.

"I need to talk with her. I am doing preparations for the coming settlers. And time is running out." The door opens slowly. A small but formidable black man stands before me.

"You can say that again. Not much time to turn around. She is busy as hell at the far end. A shipment of beds just arrived. I will take you to her."

She is a short lean young woman. Stripped down, white string undershirt and white shorts, olive skin, short black hair. A sheen of sweat covered her body as she and three other women, older than her, are unloading mattresses onto wide industrial shelves off the rail cars.

"I suppose you could use some help?" I ask, jumping up easily onto the car. I started assisting one woman swinging mattresses over to Claire.

"Thanks for the hand." Says Claire. "You must be Gordon." She smiled and looked at me with what I hoped was some interest.

I soon had my shirt off and am sweating as much as the others. "It has been a long time since I have done any real physical work. It feels good," I comment.

"Do not hesitate to come by and help. We can always use a strong back." I spent stolen moments watching her muscles moving on her slim body.

We soon had the beds unloaded and she invited me to her office for a cold drink. Her companions went off to some other jobs.

"We do have machines to do most of the chores. But today with so many supplies coming into the place everything was getting backlogged." She told me this as she signaled to me to sit down with her across a battered coffee table.

"I understand that we should expect another 4000 men, women and children in the next three days." I start. "Is there enough food and household necessities for them? It will be months before either atrium is supplying vegetables and years before decent fruit production."

"It is going to be touch and go. There is no way that food can be supplied from Earth at a reasonable cost. Just too many expenses. There is a good stockpile of emergency food. But we will have to produce most of the food here. Have you talked to Iscar about this."

"Not yet. I wanted to get other points of view."

"To some people she is the only point of view here." She said straight out.

"I am very impressed with Iscar and am willing to give her all the help I can," I commented.

"Good. Once these people start arriving here, there will not be any time for hesitation. We are taking advantage of only a small window of opportunity."

"What happens after that?" I asked.

"According to some, we work like mad building a home that anyone would be proud to live in. Do not doubt our resolve. What we have planned here is what is needed for Luna. We will succeed and prosper."

After she provided many details and a supply list that I needed, I thanked her and left reluctantly. We both gave each other a thorough up and down. Then I returned to my studies, back to my room at the MacNeal Compound.

I was told of my next job that evening at dinner. A new approach to preparing the atrium ceilings was being tried. I should start organizing a team of men the following day and I needed to review the procedures and personnel information before I went to bed.

I asked why so fast.

"Well we have less time than we figured. Frank, his family and some of his crew will be joining us by tomorrow morning. The Beta 1 managers are giving him a hard time. He says it is either Earth or us. I convinced him that his work will be valued here and he will receive Level 1 pay scale. I am giving them the number 2 compound in Area "A"," said Iscar.

I requested that a construction trailer be set up near the north end of the East atrium.

Tomorrow I will be back in the thick of it.

Iscar called me early. Very early.

"Sorry we did not give you the time you needed. We are under some pressure here. The atriums have to be ready like yesterday. And we need you to be here with the children.

"People will be arriving in a few minutes from the ships. We have to go now and meet with them. Only you will be here to take care of the children. I will send someone to relieve you when work time begins."

She was rushing around trying not to forget anything. I told all of them to go ahead and laid down for another hour of sleep.

Ghita woke me. She was all dressed and hair combed. "Gordie, time to get up!"

I jumped out of bed and almost bashed my head on the desk against the far wall.

"Sorry about that. Old habits die hard," I said.

I smelled coffee. "Who made the brew?"

"I just turned the maker on. Mama readied it before for me." Ghita answered.

I held onto her as we walked out into the courtyard. The other girls, two of them were actively eating a bowl of hot multigrain cereal. The conversation was heated. The youngest was away with her mother, meeting the 500 strangers that just left the only world they had ever known.

"I get the red pail today. You had it before." stated Arvin. She was waving a dripping spoon over her head.

After a enjoyable breakfast with delightful company, we started to talk about what it must be like for these new people. Kim compared it to their move from Alpha 5, leaving good friends and a comfortable household.

Halfdan soon came by, trailing a tall dark-skinned woman with three young boys standing guard around her. There was a terrible sadness about her.

"This is Susan Johnson and her boys. She is going to be living with us for a while."

I invited her to sit down at the table. The boys saw the girls, then the sandbox and the play area. On a signal from me they ran and stumbled to grab the sand toys. The girls soon joined them and introductions commenced.

"I am glad you are with us. I have only been here two days myself." I said to Susan.

"Excuse me. I am so messed up." She said in a low breath. "Since my man died, I cannot see where this is all leading." She was in tears. Halfdan, now seated beside her was providing a shoulder to lean on. "Why, what happened?" I foolishly asked.

"They killed him!" She wailed. "He was such an idiot. Never would follow orders."

"He carried a pistol onto the space shuttle." Explained Halfdan." They never even brought him into the Hab. He was lead out by the ground crew."

"I am so sorry." I apologized and remained silent for a while. The children were playing quietly. "But you can have a good life here. These are wonderful people and it seems to me you have lucked out by coming to the MacNeal Compound."

Halfdan, after breakfast told me to go to work. He would take care of things at home.

I was glad to get away from the sadness. That whole day, not a moment passed when I did not think back to that unhappy woman, but sometimes I found myself thinking of Claire and her fine smile.

There was no mystery in hanging cables from walls to allow robots to do their jobs. Supplies came regularly through the Northern supply doors of the West atrium and down in service lifts. I directed the men hooking up the supply lines and the pressure hoses. Most seemed to know their jobs and I left them to it.

Preparing the rock surface came first. Boiling off any surface moisture, filling holes, spraying an adhesive solution then an insulator. By the time the first kilometre was finished a second rank of bots began spraying a heated and coloured ceramic mixture, baby blue with cloudy whites. This application, I am told will last for at least 50 years.

Equipment was moved to East atrium as they finished with the first.

For the next 48 hours I was relieved twice, so I could take short naps. All the equipment was later cleaned and stored with Claire in the warehouse, waiting to be used again.

I called the crew into the trailer and we went over the schematics. I left the electrical master in charge of installing light strips, outlets and optical junction boxes, the plumbing master in charge of water systems, washroom facilities and fire retardant systems, the maintenance supervisor in charge of ventilation.

I needed a good rest.

As I made my way to Iscar's on level two, people and wagons seemed to fill the halls. Ceramic framed utility wagons, on strong bicycle wheels, were loaded with wall board, toilets, mattresses and bed frames, sinks and portable cooking stoves, blankets and children's toys.

I greeted many of struggling new people, welcoming them to Beta 2.

Many of the people were not obviously black and showed little sign of Indian blood. I knew better. These were native Americans (the Canadian variety).

Everything was quiet in the MacNeal compound. Allison sat drinking a glass of juice at the dining table.

"You look well worn." She commented.

"How did it go today? "

"Oh, fine. No major arguments. But I did not expect any on the first day. Sorry it is the second day or is it the third."

"I heard Susan's story, before I left for work."

"Yes that was difficult. It has been a standard rule since the beginning of the Lunar settlements. No projectile weapons allowed. Only one punishment seems to be effective."

I didn't argue with her. I was too tired.

Allison stood. "I am spelling Claire in the warehouse. Maybe I will see you tomorrow." As she left I went to fetch a towel and take a long shower.

---

All levels of Beta 2 are two kilometres from end to end. Every effort was made to construct each family area about the measured sizes. Allowing for inter-tunnel hallways, stairways and lifts, the average length of each unit, compound, is 40 metres.

You can figure it out. Fifty compounds in a row. Each unit takes, on average, eight families. That would make about 33 persons per unit. Or about 1650 people in all.

[ Compound layout]

Well to make it short, three strings of compounds make 150 units, which will handle 5000 persons. Wow!!

The common areas, courtyards, are 21 metres wide and twenty metres long.

A typical 'MacNeal' compound includes, six flats with two bedrooms and two flats with one bedroom. Flats can be rearranged. Extra rooms are available for individuals as bedrooms or office space. The kitchen is 21 by 7 metres. A washroom shower bath area is 21 by 7 metres. Laundry, storerooms, a root cellar, meeting room 5x7 Metres.

Will was awake and up before me Saturday morning. He has to collect 70 people for industrial training at the Factory Complex. The ceramic cookers and molds must be fetched, installed and the people trained in their operation.

The railway will bring in raw materials from storage areas along the rail line.

Many household items need manufactured such as bathtubs, stove units, toilets and sinks, Tables and cupboards. Even bed frames and shelving. The secret of making everything from the same material, is to vary the colour scheme. You name it, ceramics can make it. Washers, dryers, ovens, piping, electrical boxes. I am told people went crazy in the early twentieth century over a material called Bakelite.

Also machines will soon be on hand for manufacturing glass fibre tubing for plumbing and electrical conduits.

Rock Wool machines will be installed soon to provide padding in mattresses and insulation. After Will left with my best wishes, Iscar comes down the pole. She smiles at me, gives me a kiss on the cheek and heads for the showers with a towel in her hand.

"Do not go running off until we talk." She calls back.

Later she tells me. "We need to survey Atrium West for garden plots today. I will be collecting about 30 women in a hour. You can go ahead. We will meet you at the construction trailer."

"What tools will we need?" I asked.

"Nothing but our eyes and ears. I want you to keep a watch for any outstanding individuals in the group. We are going to need work leaders. Quite a few."

Halfdan wondered out with toothbrush in hand. "Good morning to you Halfdan." I cheerfully said.

"Yes," he said in a grudging manner. "Have some of that black stuff ready when I get back." Some mornings are more difficult than others.

"I suppose there will not be much rest for us in the next few weeks?" I asked.

"Well, it depends on how well we can organize the groups to govern themselves." Iscar replied. I got my things together and left for the Atrium.

The Dozers were still busy leveling piles of soil dumped there during the night, compost, rock wool and phosphates imported from Alpha sector. The rock wool was to help hold the water near the surface for young plants. Nitrogen is a major deficiency, which will have to be fixed with a hands on application of supplements.

I pull out the tripods from the trailer and three portable positioning calculators. The central auditorium was completed. It sat at the mid-point of the atrium. An open air meeting hall built in the Greek playhouse style. I noticed two tall cedar trees, with roots rapped in cloth, sitting on either side of it.

[ The Atrium]

Iscar approached from the West wall with her band of women. Every imaginable body shape and colour seemed to be present. I am introduced. Then each woman speaks her name and a little of her history. I wrote each name down with a keyword description, because I would never have a chance of remembering otherwise. Three women specifically say they are unmarried and available. I noted this also.

But as Iscar speaks of the plans she has for food production in the Atrium, I note also who is listening and later who is asking intelligent questions.

"I chose you because of your knowledge and experience with growing gardens on Earth." Iscar concludes. "From some of our conversations last night, I know that you also want a diverse and extensive choice of vegetables, grains, fruit, herbs and nuts. We will be able to do this. But the first gardens will be root crops and fast growing food plants. Our soil is not yet ideal and it will take a year or two to get it there. Can you help me? "

They responded well to her. I am proud to be a part of the MacNeal Compound.

Referring to her pad, Iscar walks about explaining the crops that she thinks should be planted immediately. i.e. potatoes, greens, summer squash, beans and climbers, rhubarb, sugar beet ( for obvious reasons), peppers, melons, turnips, parsnips, spices and herbs, and a big field of barley. There were other suggestions. They were noted.

"The temperature will be kept above 20 C and lights will shine brightly for 19 hours a day. This has proven best in other Habs over the last 10 years. We have a lot of data from work that has succeeded and failed on Luna. I want you all to review it. Much of the seed that we use is loaned to us from Alpha 5 where I once lived. Other seed has arrived from research stations and seed houses on Earth. Let me give you an example of what is possible with the common PEI potato." She held one up in her hand. "Normally it takes ten weeks from planting to harvest of full sized tubers. Here with less gravity, controlled heating, good lighting and plentiful water, we will harvest after 7 weeks. " The crowd expressed their surprise and delight.

The lighting systems were still being installed. Men and women on high cherry pickers were quietly going about installing striplights and watering systems.

"The lesson to learn here is to avoid replanting the same crops in the same location. A similar shortening of growing time will result with most other vegetables and fruit."

A short, shapely black woman, in her early thirties, short black hair, spoke up. Her name I remembered as Zeeba. "Have you worked out if it is possible to support a population of 5000 on a small area like this?"

"I was afraid someone would ask that question." Some were giggling, while others waited quietly for her answer.

"I know some of you have done some quick calculations and come up short. We do have a few tricks up our sleeves and I intend to talk about them in the next few days. If you have any suggestions, always feel free to voice them."

Zeeba had not finished. " We can hang rope from the ceiling, trail vines and bushes on trellises, build a smaller atrium in a unused part of the Habitat."

"This is what I want to hear." stated Iscar waving her arms. "All of these ideas are now under consideration. "

We can now start planting stakes to outline the potato patch and the various other plots against the East wall. I programmed three of the robot tillers to start loosening the soil.

"We will break for lunch at 12:00. I expect everyone back here by 1:30. Prepared to get your hands dirty."

There was cheerful noise of laughter and excitement.

Over the rest of the day much was done. Seed stock, nutrients and water were added to the soil. I did tests on soil samples from around the Atrium, to find the best spots for different vegetables.

Around 5:30 p.m. I sat in my trailer resting with a cold lemonade. Zeeba came in and I had her sit down. Offered her a drink. "So how do you feel about your new home?" I asked her, just to get the conversation started.

"There has not been much time to reflect. I do know however that I would like very much to move out of the group I am in."

She looked like a woman who did not make rash or hurried decisions.

"I am sure if you wish to move that you will be allowed to. Just find a group that you can work with. Do you have any family with you?"

"No, no-one but me. My father is dead. My mother was ill in Toronto. She told me to go ahead and grab this opportunity. My husband and children just refused to come."

"How old are your children? "

"14 and 15. Two boys. Both are headstrong and stupid like their father. I was divorced last year." I looked at her more carefully. Yes a beautiful piece of work. She noticed me, but did not shy away. She was open for inspection.

"Guess that gives away my age. I had my older boy at the age of 15."

"So you are 31."

"Right on! Would you put a word in for me at the MacNeal Compound."

"I will certainly give it thought." I said cautiously. "I will also watch you over the next few days to see how you get along with the others."

"Well," she said, "I guess that is all I can expect. Thank you for hearing me out."

"Oh, you are very welcome. I know that Iscar has already taken a liking to you."

"How long have you two been friends?" Zeeba asked.

"About 5 days."

She looked at me in disbelief." That is not possible! I have seen the way you look at each other. There is a love and trust flowing between you. That must take years to build. "

"I am as amazed as you are. She is just one of those special people."

She showed me unashamed, the tears running down her face. "I think you are one of those special people too."

I reached over and held her hand. There was no physical attraction as such.

There was love and mutual comfort, a resting point where worries stopped for a time. It was the second time in my life that I knew a woman could be a friend without sexual attraction playing a part. I was now sure that the Moon could become my home.

We were all busy over the next few weeks. Zeeba became part of the MacNeal Compound with my recommendation. She really took to Susan's three boys. The boys were very polite and quick to learn. Susan took over the kitchen, preparing many of the dinners. She also has a deep knowledge of herbal medicines, helping Iscar with vital details in the planting.

When I found time, I visited the warehouse. Claire and I have started to spend more time together outside of work.

She tells me her father's family came to Toronto from Sri Lanka in 1994. Some of her mother's family, southern blacks, settled into Nova Scotia in the middle 1800's where they inter-married with French Cajuns and MicMac natives.

"I can speak MicMac because I and my brother spent four summers as young people on a Native farm in Cape Breton. We learned how to work with our hands there. My spiritual guide, an old native woman named Mary Paul, told me that some day I would be living ' above the sky and below the earth '. I did not say so, but it sounded crazy at the time."

She smiled and I smiled back.

Claire lives in a commune made up of old timers. She had worked in Beta 1's warehouse as a gopher for the first year. Everything was so structured and her education so minimal, she had no prospects for advancement.

"I jumped at the chance when Will asked me to take on the warehouse here.

In the second week, Claire led me over to the mall on Level 4. We walked down a four tunnel wide corridor, hand in hand. Much construction was in progress. Many of the settlers were building booths against the West wall, to sell all kinds of items and services.

"What kind of things will people be able to sell?" I asked her. I could already see signs waiting to be put up for a barber shop and a Goodwill clothing store. The mall tunnel stretches the full 2 kilometres. We were so far using only a tenth of that.

"You would be surprised. I give them about a year. By then you will be able to buy about anything you can buy in Kingston or Saulte Saint Marie. We all earn more than we need for the necessities of life. Many people have talents that people are willing to pay money for."

"It is good that Beta 2 has limited the working week to 24 hours over four days. People have time to provide for real social needs," explained Claire.

We made our way the distance from the mall to the factory.

A low hum was coming from the blowers in the air filtration system. The air is ionized and smells fresh.

I waved to Will, who was instructing a novice worker in using a laser cutter on a bundle of optical fibers. He nodded indicating that we were welcome and we were free to look around while he is busy. " I am surprised at how much is getting done. " I counted 60 bathtubs waiting to be moved straight out to the compounds. Stacks of stovetops and various parts were, as we watched, being taken on personal carts to the service elevator to be distributes.

"I think we are sitting on a gold mine here. These people are working for their own benefit. They will be receiving stock in our company and gain rewards for their hard work," said Claire.

"Many of them are not trained in advanced technology. What will happen when most of their needs are met?" I asked.

"We have planned for that. Allison has kept me informed on the Holmstead policies. We have not told the settlers, so you must keep it secret. Most of the parents were chosen on the ability of their children to handle new situations. We reviewed IQ tests, emotional stability and such."

"It does not surprise me." I remarked. " I guess that people will just go back to school when they have enough time."

"You got it. More pay for high tech jobs. Of course the best pay is reserved for the miners who work out on the surface. They supervise the robots and vacuum factories used in refining the minerals, the conveyer rubble has to be sorted and rock has to be crushed and separated into workable minerals." she explained. "Very little of the minerals are shipped out in raw form. Water or ice is divided into oxygen and hydrogen and stored in underground tanks. Heat and electricity can separate calcium and Aluminum, then they are stored on the surface. "

"Ok, professor I do understand. Where should we go next?"

"One day we should visit Beta 1. I think I can manage a pass for you. But they do not like scabs. "

" What? Is that what they call us? "

---

Good morning folks. The sun is brightly shining through my bedroom window. And all is right with the world. Sorry, forget the sunlight. And my bedroom window is usually opaque for privacy reasons. I am sitting at the dining table with an empty cup.

"Good morning Gordie. Have you got any plans for today." Iscar kisses my cheek and pours me a warm up.

"I am going to the potato patch and watch the worms grow. Then I will eat lunch with Claire at the Mall. After that I have no plans.

"If you are there around 10:30, we need to talk."

It is a Sunday and I have a good book on the pad. My work trailer is gone to other tasks but a fine sitting park has been added, with flowers, two benches and some small shade trees that are not yet giving any. MP19 is playing Mozart, and the pad is scrolling Heinlein's The Number of the Beast. An hour into it, I see this tall heavyset Chinese fellow navigating to me along the path from the playhouse. Instinct tells me to run. He does not change direction or speed. Nor is it a familiar face. A bald head, not shaved, it makes me nervous.

"Good morning. Iscar said I would find you here. Wallas Robertson is my name." He holds his hand so I take it.

"Have a seat Wallas." He looked over at the vegetable plots.

"Iscar, a magician, with plants. We never went hungry "

"Why am I blessed with this visit?" I asked politely.

"You know that we have an development committee in Beta 1. We are starting one here."

I listened as he explained how new ideas are the life blood of Lunar North. The spacecraft construction, the rocket fuel, solar panels, electronic chips, refining, the efficiency of the mining equipment, creating new breeds of plants suited for the Moon's environment.

"We want your help to find new ways to uses our resources."

Iscar walked into the meeting at that point.

"Good morning, Wall. What's new back at the base." She looked over at me. "Wallas works for Canadian intelligence, Gordie."

Wallas did not seem very happy to see her. "He is a Canadian citizen. I'm sure he would like to help his country."

"Was he talking to you about the Development committee? They pulled in Will for a few months before he caught on. When Will tried to quit they used threats against his family in BC. Empty threats. I made sure of that." Her face was cruelly strained, with past pain.

"Yes Wallas, will you never learn. We will have a development committee. It will be staffed by some of the brightest and the best. And they will do it because they want to. "

I thanked him for coming and wished him better luck. He left quietly but very deflated.

"I have never joined groups that use recruiters. Besides I would have talked to you and Will first." I remarked.

"I knew they were going to make a try for you. Security let him in then sent me a message. That is why I am here a little early. " She sat down beside me.

We held hands for a while, I felt her healing presence.

"What is next, Iscar." I asked.

"Well I would say that it is structure time. The compounds are sort of settled into a routine now. We will encourage assemblies of consultation. "

"How many people on the assemblies?" I asked.

"Nine per group. Some groups will be more than one compound. When that is done, we will have a Habitat Council of nine, elected from delegates chosen by the group assemblies."

"Does that mean that you will be stepping down as leader?"

"I never call myself a leader. I have a group of fifteen strong people working with me. They chose me as there 'spokesperson' because I can listen and move fast." she explained.

"Yes, it is time that the people chose their own government." She continued. " That is why we split off from the other Habs. They never trusted us to govern ourselves. Their policies required secret police, undercover snoops, distrust all around and disappearance of friends and loved ones." Her face showed the strain of personal tragedy.

"Is there something that you want to get off your chest, Iscar?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh, it is all over now. No going back. You see my father is on the Canadian Space Council, back in Toronto. He is also involved somehow with Beta intelligence."

I held her for a few moments. "So where do we go from here?"

She sat up and pulled a tissue to wipe her tears. "That's what I want to talk to you about.

She continued. "What is it that we are up to here? Are we just a section of a Canadian company, doing it's bidding and staying under it's thumb? I do not think so. I have seen the economics. We will pay all our debts within the next year. "

"The sling program has reduced their cost by 90%. That is their secret. Our systems are in place. Maintenance is relatively cheap. We build most of the mining equipment from the raw materials that are in abundance here. Even the optics, electronics and nano tech. Most of the food can be produced with our Lunar sweat. We can even make our own toothpaste."

"We want to develop the Moon as our 'Home' not an extension of any Earth company. (Are you getting all this Wallas?)" She yelled this into a small piece of blue Velcro stuck to the side of my Jean shirt. She plucked it off me and placed it on the cement walk. I crushed it with my heel.

"Because of people like that one, we have been forced to make our move." Her hands were searching under my collar and in some very private spots. She told me, with her eyes, to just relax. Then she stood and checked about the benches and the trees. Two more stickies were found in the next few minutes. Iscar signaled for me to come walking. We did not follow the walkway, but used the paths made by the gardeners over the last few days.

Plants were growing in healthy profusion. The attention and love has brought results.

"Maria is organizing a team to instruct households to order their kitchen scraps and garbage. The toilets are composting types and will supply much organic matter in time. An additional box will be added below the kitchen for other organic materials. It is all collected on a lower level."

"Iscar, Iscar quite contrary. How does your garden grow?" I joked.

"That is enough Gordon! " and she gave me a shove into the parsnips.

I picked myself up. It was all worth it to see her smiling again.

"I think you got the hots for me, Car." I said tauntingly.

"Well you might be right but do not expect me to do anything about it."

"Ok, shall we get back to revolution?"

"Sure, now where was I?" She thought for a few moments.

"We know many who want changes in Beta and Alpha sector. I can not tell you any details for obvious reasons. When the time comes they will move in with us or ferment change in their own sector. As you know Beta 3 is near completion. We will call it Holmstead 1. We want you to help us find suitable people to work in that mining sector. Will has already started a section, for building more tunnel boreworms and conveyer parts. We intend to expand the Lunar project geometrically. It is possible that within the next year we could triple the Moon's population."

"Are you talking 100,000?" I asked.

"Oh, at least. With the new Earth to Moon shuttle plans, it will be physically possible.

Iscar continues. "Holmstead 2 will be turned over to spacecraft production. We will supply most of their household needs from Home 1. We will be moving, if we have no hitches within three weeks. Home 2 will be larger and will be used to grow food, but the East Atrium will be used strictly for spacecraft manufacturing. Each craft will leave as a functional machine."

Now matters were becoming very interesting.

"With some hard work and a good educational programs, we need not be restricted to Earth," added Iscar.

"The man who modified the sling program has been in touch with us through a Toronto contact. He will be consulting with us soon on expanding out to Venus."

"How do you keep all these balls in the air?" I asked in amazement.

She just smiled, ran ahead, jumped, then rolled three times in the air, landing solidly facing me with a wide smirk.

---

Will was in his workshop gluing a fret board on a new Appalachian dulcimer he had made. Iscar was talking to Allison and Claire in the meeting room off the kitchen. I sat sipping hot chocolate with Iscar's four girls at the dining table. This moment is burned into my memory and what happened next. The air went silent, then the walls shook. Air rushed out of my mouth and ears. Then a sudden clang of metal and all was silent.

Iscar came rushing out of the kitchen. "That was the pressure doors. Gordie come with me. Allison please stay with the children."

We rushed to the North end where the pressure suits are kept. Claire was beside me.

"I am glad we had those pressure doors installed or we would all be dead." said Iscar as she reached for her suit.

I found my suit and Claire her's. We headed for a small auxiliary airlock. There was just enough room for the three of us. Soon we were out in the tunnel suited and headed for the main airlock to the surface.

This airlock is shared with Beta 1. It was also in shambles with a wide slash across its inner door and the outer door open and torn partly from heavy huge hinges.

Iscar turned to me and signaled not to say anything over the radio. We headed in the direction of Beta 1.

One body, that of a middle aged woman, lay in red blood stains near an open storage room door. The other four were inside dead. A woman, a sister, lay huddled against the left wall with three teen boys. I do not want to describe any further details.

I proceeded a few steps up the tunnel and found five men, one in uniform. The first one had an industrial laser near where he lay connected by a power line to a power pack on his belt. I did not touch the bodies or go near them.

On returning I found Iscar kneeling over the woman. She had been cut partly through by the laser. I went in to gather two of the boys and carried them back to the auxiliary airlock. We soon had the bodies laid out in the equipment room. Will and some others removed them to storage while us three sat in emotional exhaustion.

"There were five bodies of men further along the tunnel." I mentioned to Iscar. "They had a laser pistol?" Iscar asked.

"One had an industrial laser. He wore a uniform."

"This happened once before in Alpha 2. Just after I arrived. Mary and Phyllis were coming to join us. I hoped they might be part of our compound," said Iscar. Claire had an arm around her as Iscar sobbed wet tears on her shoulder.

"It would have been so much easier to let them go. They were refusing to live with their husbands and the company was threatening to send them back to Earth," said Iscar after a pause.

"Do you think their husbands did this? " I asked.

"No, they were good men, just overworked."

"We can prepare a small gravesite in the East Atrium," said Claire.

We sent a query to Beta 1 that afternoon. And an article to several news agencies on Earth, giving our spin on the events. Wallas responded saying it was a terrible accident but no deliberate violence was involved.

Beta 1 was having other problems. We got equipment we ordered, but much of the ore our conveyers were putting out was not getting refined.

---

I am assigned to oversee mining and refining, which includes the finishing of Holmstead 1 and 2. Each Habitat will have three atriums. On Home 2 the East atrium will be extra large to accommodate building small space vehicles and larger items for the orbital dry docks.

I have to study moon mining procedures and find personal profiles of people suitable for difficult, dirty, dangerous tunnel and surface work. I also must talk to Will and Iscar about people able and willing to instruct my crew in the subtleties of mineral extraction.

"I guess it is time to call some people in." said Iscar. "We told them to wait it out until they were needed. Now there is no time to hesitate."

Will mentions that he already has most of his people from the day I arrived.

"They will be watching for this one, Will. " says Iscar. "How can we best make a distraction to allow a safe escape?"

I felt out of my element as they conferred. I felt that the less I knew about their intrigues, the better.

How it happened is like this. Three days pass while Beta 2 set up local radio programming. Much of the music was locally produced and of good quality. All announcements however were in Chinese and it was made to seem that the signal was coming from Alpha 2. The radio messages implied that Alpha 2 had been taken over by Beta 2, and we were celebrating Alpha's new freedom.

Alpha 2 sent a distress message over private channels asking other Habs for forces to help stop the rebellion. Enough chaos was created to allow 135 highly trained mining engineers from Habs one through ten, except Alpha 2, to escape with their families to Beta 2.

We have taken three families into our own compound, from Alpha 5.

Led by Iscar, this group of 15, adults and older teens, walked slowly in looking around with big eyes and shining faces. All were amazed by the roominess of our quarters. Iscar introduces us to her old friends.

Song Aibao and his wife Yan Yan and twin boys.

Shi Bonu his wife Ting Ting and their twin boys and younger twin girls.

Gan Muning his wife Chan Juan and their three girls.

Iscar told me something of their history.

The three wives are sisters who lived in the small town of Cangxi in Sichuan province, their husbands worked at the nearby Space Research Centre. They met their future husbands, on a hot day in July as the men walked quietly together, looking for a good restaurant. The young women that day were running the diner for their parents, who were out of town at a regional meeting. Business was slow so one thing led to another. It was only six months later, when they all decided to marry.

Iscar and Will, speaking fluent Chinese were doing translation for me. I had not thought too much about it before. They must have spent some time at this same base.

"Many Canadians were involved in the early Chinese program. Toronto and Calgary companies needed people on site, in China, to represent them. Iscar and I, shortly after we were married, joined a Toronto firm and because of my Chinese studies at Simon Fraser U. were asked to move to Sichuan province." Explained Will.

"Ghita was born there," said Iscar.

Song Aibao began to talk to me in stilted English. "We come to Beta 2 to start new life. Iscar, Will are good friends. We hope that you also be friend."

His wife, Yan Yan, sayed. "We understand English and hope speak it more in new home."

"I welcome you all to Beta 2 and look forward to our growing friendships." I am trying to be diplomatic and sincere at the same time.

Now we have 15 children. Also Iscar, Will, Allison, Halfdan, Gordon, Susan, Zeeba and the new six or 13 adults in all.

Halfdan and I have decided to share an apartment. Luckily, both of us feel strongly about neatness and a minimum of furniture. A small flat with two bedrooms, on the Northeast corner, partially over the Kitchen. Most of the time Halfdan and I have different schedules so we will not be fighting for the living room.

I finally have a place to invite guests.

I invited Claire to come the next day. I use the morning, and my new living room, to consult with our three engineers. Claire arrives at lunch with a hostess gift, a small piece of cheese cake, worth a day's wages because it has real cheese.

I set the cake aside and thanked her personally.

Hours later we relaxed on the sofa, with coffee and cake, to watch a Vid serial about love and life on a farm on the pampas of Argentina. Our choice of dubbing in 16 languages. Text is available.

That evening after Claire left, I started my list of men and women that seemed promising for mining work. I show the list to Will because a couple of people are working for him. "Yes please take whoever you feel. I can afford to lose a few now that so many are trained. I know that your group is the present priority and I am glad to help in any way I can."

Once I had made a plan and worked out where everyone was, I made efforts to contact them.

I left emails, made phone calls, went to talk to them personally. When I can find them. Nothing seems to be organized for my convenience. Finally I reserved a meeting hall and invited them with offers of a better challenge and higher pay.

12 women and 34 men. All young but for three.

"You will be the first of our Hab to work on the surface. Many more opportunities will come your way because you have not limited yourselves to inside work. All future research and development will require a hands-on knowledge of the total Moon environment.

Then I had Gan Muning, the most fluent in English of our three engineers talk to them about his years working in mining both on the moon's surface and in the tunnels. He emphasized how much had been learned, the safety measures taken and now in place and the efficiencies that have reduced the number of persons needed for supervising.

"Take a day to think about it." I stated. "If I do not hear from you by 6:00 PM on Wednesday, I will consider you out."

Some stayed behind to confirm that they wanted in. By the next day all the women had opted in, some of them suggested friends whom they thought also suitable for the job. 18 of the men joined. Some others contacted me late. I said " No thank you. You answered too late."

I interviewed the new women and accepted five of them. Claire later admitted that she did a little prompting behind the scenes to get the women interested.

Classes started immediately. All I had to do was arrange classes with teachers and talk to the contractors doing the initial work on Home 1. This required me donning my surface suit and heading out on a railcar to locate Frank Agustius.

Allison decided to accompany me.

"Frank is still very much a company man," explained Allison. "Iscar says that he has the hots for me and it could help our cause to have me along." She made a face which tells me there is no rewards in it for her. If I was not so involved with Claire, I would have make a move on her.

As it was, Moon suits are not very sexy. On the ride out Allison explains to me that our Hab was short about a hundred surface suits and thousands of emergency suits. Used only at times of depressurization, they can mean the difference between life and death.

Chan Juan and Ting Ting, two of our Chinese sisters, have worked for the space suit program in the Alpha sector. "They will commandeer some factory space or maybe some office space would be enough." mentioned Allison. Her stiff red hair was creeping around to threaten her vision through the visor. "I hate these things. Last time I had to use this suit I remembered to tie my hair back."

It was not long before we could jump out of the car and enter an airlock to Frank's central command. "What are you up to Frank." said Allison. We had peeled and left our suits near the airlock.

His face almost cracked a smile when he saw the red head walk in the door.

When he saw me it fell back to its usual sternness.

"Relax Man. We're just preparing you a second crew." Says Allison. "Gordon is coordinating it now. They are being trained by some of the best from Alpha 5.

"How did those bore heads pan out? " she asks. She is talking about the new tunnel cutting heads Will had manufactured for the boreworm machines.

"Not too bad. The best I seen yet. The lasers are 100%."

"Well there you go. That is the quality you can expect from our green troops."

"Ok, as long as you give me good product, I can deal with you and your friends, have a seat. Alice bring in some coffee, we got a conference here," he shouted to his assistant.

As before, screens covered the walls showing views of the many tunnels being worked on.

We discussed the manpower needs, time sheets for the new crew, equipment available and needed and how to speed up the schedule, so Home 2 could be started as soon as possible.

I wrote quick notes to myself on future bottlenecks, if even one item was not ready on time. Allison got Frank to give us a copy of his preparation check list . This would later save our necks and give us clues to what could really be done when people worked for their own benefit.

Anorthite is a mineral consisting of aluminum (chemical symbol Al), Calcium (Ca), Silicon (Si) and Oxygen (O), with a chemical formula of CaAl2Si2O8. The smelter's job is to split all that up to produce pure aluminum metal, and optionally calcium metal, free oxygen, "silica" glass (SiO2), and eventually perhaps pure silicon. Alternatively, Anorthite could be processed to produce ceramics like "calcia" (CaO, a.k.a. "lime") and "alumina" (Al2O3) instead of the metals, or silica glasses with various properties depending upon the metal oxide impurities added. Terrestrial anorthire has been used in some countries as a commercial aluminum ore.

Calcium is the fourth most abundant element in the lunar highlands. Calcium oxides and calcium silicates are not only useful for ceramics, but pure calcium metal is an excellent electrical conductor. Calcium is a better electrical conductor than aluminum and copper. Calcium's conductivity also holds up better against heating. "At [20C, 68F], calcium will conduct 16.7% more electricity than aluminum, and at [100C, 212F] it will conduct 21.6% more electricity through one centimeter length and one gram mass of the respective metal." (30) Compared to copper, calcium will conduct two and a half times as much electricity at 20C, 68F, and 297% as much at 100C, 212F.

Like copper, calcium metal is easy to work with. It is easily shaped and molded, machined, extruded into wire, pressed, and hammered.

Iron is abundant in lowland minerals, and fairly easy to extract, e.g., from ilmenite. There are beds of nearly pure ilmenite, anorthite and other minerals which do not need to be beneficiated to produce the above or better purity of minerals.

The Moon is deficient not only in water, except at the poles, but also very deficient in compounds containing carbon, nitrogen, potassium, sodium and chlorine.

There are minerals abundant in the common lunar soil which are fairly easily processible to produce major quantities of fiberglass, ceramics, clear glasses, aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium, titanium and chromium, as well as other materials.

Processes considered for refining include fluoroacid leaching, vapor phase pyrolysis, carbothermal processing, and slag electrolysis.

Much of the refining required a lot of refining in a vacuum environment, sometimes using chemical leaching.

It was now up to me to find ways for Holmstead to enter into mineral refinement. Certain processes will be taken care of, for the foreseeable future by Alpha sector and we will pay their costs. I feel we will do best at processing that which has been passed over by the quick money projects.

This requires setting up several large block shaped buildings to contain the machinery for refining on the surface and to limit dust on the surface.

We will buy rights to tailings which have pilled up over a vast plain to the North. We must think Amino acids, carbon bases molecules. Potassium, nitrogen, magnesium extraction. We can mix tailings to produce a super-soil for atrium plant production. Trading this with other Habs for supplies. Drill a number of storage tunnels for refined elements i.e. water, sodium, carbon, potassium, magnesium. Use some tunnels to hold fuel cells which producing electricity from H & O during Lunar Night. Start Will's people on production of fuel cell equipment.

I brought my notes to the dinner table five days later. Everyone sat around with Pads in hand. Some checked my sources, some found new info and many ideas I had not thought of.

It was revealed that demand for Aluminium and Ferric Compounds was high, for space programs. There was now an American push to mine certain near Earth asteroid fields. ( the number found of 1 km asteroids and larger has reached 15,000).

Vast on-site factories have to be built. Many space tugs need to be built for hauling.

---

After we left Frank, Allison led me out for a surface walking tour.

One of the first things that caught my eye when stepping out from the airlock was that none of the Habs were visible. Looking North I could see what must be the conveyer belt system that carries dust and rubble out of the tunnels that are under construction. It is too far to make out details. To the East I saw nothing but rolling hills of dust and a ridge of a small crater. To the West it was much the same.

I then turned South and could make out a series straight lines and rectangular shadows. This was the latest extensions to our solar array. The microwave power transmitters were not visible.

Probably because at that distance they were too small. The power collector dishes to the North were just seeable in my magnifying visor. The Earth was a blue crescent in the South East sky.

I was overcome by an emotion of loss and familiarity. Something about the real dust at my feet stretching out to the too close horizon tugged at my emotional and primitive self.

Allison pointed out the way we must move. We were up here to personally see some of the surface mining procedures. I tried to get my mind back onto business.

There was a warn foot trail so we followed it. Before long the conveyers began to take on some definition. A haze hung above them in a long grey line. Large buildings covered parts of the silent moving conveyers. On one side of the building a conveyer entered on another side three conveyers exited, to enter another buildings and so on. Railcars carried some of the more refined minerals to other box buildings or into tunnels in the ground that lead to caverns or vacuum factories for processing Aluminium, Chromium, Iron etc.

We hopped beside conveyers moving North until I could see mountains of tailings stretched across a Northern plain from East to West.

"We are going to have to stop storing minerals on the surface. It is starting to contaminate the perfect vacuum we have," says Allison. She was sounding quite relaxed. I wanted to ask her about this tugging at my inner mind, now a 'deja vous'. I was feeling a definite familiarity or someone was and I was reading those feeling.

"How are 'we' going to be able to produce product on this level?" I ask instead. My voice is revealing my feeling of inadequacy. I am whining.

Allison slapped me on the ass. It would have knocked me over if she had not caught my shoulder strap. " I should have let you fall. We will be fine! We will succeed." She said. "Maybe not at what we have seen today, but at enterprises that are even now stirring in someone's mind."

"Ok, Let us go back inside and start prying out some of those ideas. Or should I say consulting? Or should we say mining for gold?" I remark. I was not feeling at my best in this stuffy suit.

[see older suits from American base ]

She bounced and played. I followed as best I could, just like the early astronauts. But our suits were much lighter and easier to maneuver in than theirs old suits were and a fall would not likely have endangered us. Allison knows a few tricks and is faster moving across the surface than me.

But I am used to being outdone. She does not stop when we reach the airlock but continues on past, making a good 15 kph. About 3 kilometres further south we reach the edge of the huge array of solar panels. I know that to the East it stretches 18 km. To the West about 5 km.

The panels are raised many metres on hollow cast aluminum struts, steeply angled to face the Sun at near right angle. We are so close to the Moon's pole that a huge distance between array rows is needed. To the South are a dozen rows of panels but we cannot see them from our lowly position. They are spaced far apart in orderred lines not casting shadows on each other.

"The original panels set up 11 years ago in Alpha sector are still operating. If a meteorite were to crash into these panels, it is so wired that the undamaged ones will continue to broadcast power without interruption." She explains. "We can produce all the solarcell parts ourselves, without supplies from Earth."

As we make our way back, I begin to sweat. "Perhaps I have allowed myself to get out of shape. I must spend more time at physical exercise."

"These suits are not meant for long walks in the hot sun. The crews will have a better cooling system and extra tool attachments with their enhanced suits," explained Allison.

Now she tells me!

The machines, using a Tunneling template, bore smooth tunnels using computer and AI controls. All rubble is removed via conveyer systems.

Large cutting robots finish up, slice and square the floors, ceilings and walls of all tunnels that will be used for habitation.

[see Home 1 layout]

All tunnels stay in vacuum during this process. The tunnels surfaces, that will see human use, are then sealed with a hot cement spray (concrete mixes with 20% silica fumes and water / cementitious ratios of 0.3 and 0.46) to stop any water, rusting or atmospheric leaks. ( We want to keep the air inside.) This mixture when exposed to an oxygen , nitrogen atmosphere forms a tight sealing coat unequalled by any process used on Earth. Calcium content is high while oxygen is at absolute minimum levels and this added early in the preparation..

Following design plans, the three atriums of Home 1 and Home 2 were carved out in an A frame shape. Walls are removed from the designated tunnels. Then ceilings are removed while conveyers lug debris to the crushers. Finally when all dust and rubble is removed, the ceilings and floors of the new open caverns are shaped.

When everything is cleaned thoroughly, drainage systems, water and utilities are installed. The whole atrium is then sealed with our said ceramic process.

Finally some rubble is brought back in, ( garbage out, garbage in?) as a base, for a ten metre foundation layer of soil. This soil material is carefully prepared with minerals ( some imported from Earth, carbon, potassium, sodium, chlorine, iodine and nitrogen) to form a good starting point for topsoil production.

At the same time, the common areas in the family compounds are being cut out. This includes kitchen and bathroom areas. Factory areas, multi-purpose areas, malls, schools and office areas are cleared and cleaned and again sealed.

All areas are fitted with easy access ventilation pipes and electrical conduit. All services are secured in a continuous frame in the top floor ceiling. Doors are cut for access to compounds and rooms. Holes in floors are cut for stairways, emergency poles, ramps and lifts and drains.

When all rooms are prepared an airlock is fitted into the only tunnel leading out to the surface. emergency doors are placed in case of sudden pressure lose. A mixture of 43% oxygen, 20% argon, 30% nitrogen (nitrogen imported in matrix form from Earth orbit) and some carbon dioxide, some helium is pumped in. Pressure is only 50% that of Earth.

We speed the whole process by simultaneously boring tunnels, squaring tunnels, sealing tunnels and opening rooms.

While Holmstead 1 is being completed we have added two machines to our tunnel boring fleet making nine five metre wide machines in all. The secret of an excellent machine is consistent quality parts with top power adjustable pulse lasers. Each works at the same depth and width, to avoid strain on the cutting blades.

---

There was no doubt. Holmstead 1 (see Home 1 cross section) had to be completed in a very restricted time period.

The Americans found another crisis in Haiti to distract it. The Canadian Lunar program was coming back on line. We had only a few more days to move our butts out of Beta 2 and salvage what equipment we could claim as ours.

Will and Iscar have made some deal with the Beta 2 owners, all work we do on the Hab must stay in place. Any equipment we manufacture is ours to take. The Canadians will arrive with much of their work already done, but we certainly have benefited, because we now have even better quarters to serve us. So now the call goes out. 18 weeks after our arrival, the Home council asks each group to please gather their personal goods for we are going to a far better home. One that we have built and supplied and will now furnish. One that has larger compounds, three atriums and much more factory space.

It is amazing how many items one can collect in such a short stay. I now had a workable single bed, a desk, two chairs, various pieces of electronics, bed clothes and clothing (that I did not bring from Earth) and a new high quality surface suit. This all had to be moved the distance of 4 km from Beta 2 to Home 1. In our compound we have a shopping cart (with bicycle wheels) and a freight cart. Both have to be pulled or pushed, no motors to help. We take turns at moving our personal items out to the railway platform where we load everything onto a flatcar and later as a group unloaded them when reaching the platform at Home 1.

Four days and we are settled in.

5000 persons will arrive from Earth to join us in the next few days. We figure if every apartment and room is used as well as excess office space, we can manage. Five more weeks and some can be moved straight into Home 2.

The people are tired but not too tired to have a party, a dance for our new home and our better life. Factory West must serve as the temporary dance hall. Three rather good bands are hired to provide music. One is a Quebec Cajun Band, another a Blackfoot Country Rock band (these are both from our own people) and a third the Irish People from Beta 1. A good time was had by all.

Three days after the dance, we were still recovering.

The new Beta Sector people arrived from Earth, the ones that have been long delayed and made our enterprise possible. They began the same complex business that we just went through, settling into our old home, Beta 2. They spend their first days uprooting a corrupt administration, that has settled into Beta 1. Later, when the dust settled, we called and asked them to come for an official visit to Holmstead 1. They were straight laced and formal.

We set up general administration offices on the North end of Factory East and that is where we received our first Official visitors.

Captain Kiani and two assistants, a Mrs. Khan and a Corporal Jonsson, come to consult with the Holmstead council. Introductions are made all around. We each welcome them to Lunar North. Mr. Kiani made the first statement.

"We have looked over the facilities in Beta 2 and for the most part are pleased with what you have accomplished. However we are a bit confused by your arranging apartments around such a large open space. We find it a waste and not good for encouraging personnel to put in their time."

Iscar said. " There is a difference in our approach. We work shorter hours."

"We would like to show you around," said Will. He stood up and we all trailed after him. We walked together out into the Walkway corridor. The place was brightly coloured. Each compound was marked with large fancy lettering to show it's number and a group name.

Mrs. Khan remarked. "I had no idea there were so many children here."

"Forty percent of our population is children under 16," said Zeeba.

"This is not any way to run a business," said Kiani, as if someone had slapped him.

Will commented. "These people see the Moon as their home. Families are here to build a new life.

Business will do what business will do anywhere.

I ask our guests. "How long do you expect your workers to stay here and work?"

"We have no official figures on that." Says Khan.

"You do not expect them to stay here permanently?" asks Jonsson.

We have now passed dozens of compounds. Children are playing loudly in many of them. Kitchen odors threaten to overcome the ventilation system. Soon parents and school children will be home for lunch. Having finished their six hour shift they can now spend time on family duties or rush over to the mall where they work for the second time operating goods and service stores. Some will be off to classes, which will prepare them for more technical jobs.

"If they are happy, why should they leave?" Zeeba asks and answers. "Do you know how many are here at present?"

"I would guess around 5000," says Kiani.

"Guess again. Try 9900. Many will be moving into Home 2 when it is finished."

"That will give you a lot of extra capacity. " states Khan.

"Just project five years from now. We have just enough capacity," says Iscar. "You think I am exaggerating. But consider that the children that are now 12 to 19 will marry in the next five years and we have 2350 of them."

We crossed through a series of hallways and took a lift down to atrium level. Already Atrium West was well on it's way to full planting. All compost and materials necessary to enhance the soil had come into use. The water system, to produce rain, was in full function. Worms which had done a fine job in Beta 2 were now working again for us. We did not leave them many. We feared they might have killed them with excessive chemical additives, so there was no incentive to be generous. Zeeba proudly explained that this was just one of three atriums.

"We intend Atrium Central to be a forest. Our Stanley Park."

They just shook their heads.

"You are very confident that food can be produced fast enough for so many? " asks Khan.

"We have many ideas coming fast and furious. Necessity is the mother of invention. You might have noticed that our population has a broad base. Black, native, Chinese and white. And if we need more growing area, we will make it," states Will.

I stated. "I have been authorized to tell you that we expect to join the Mars expedition. A little late maybe. We figure 2062. Our young will need somewhere to go when they reach their age of rebellion."

"How many children have you brought to the moon?" Zeeba asks the Beta Sector executives. Mrs. Khan replies apologetically. "There are few children. Couples have been told not to have children while they serve here. Because if a child is born on the moon then they find it very difficult to adjust to Earth's gravity."

"Ah, but that is where we differ. We do not feel it necessary for people to go Earthside. If they have to, perhaps science will find a way to ease gravity problems," I said. "Now that spacecraft are relatively cheap to build, there does not seem any lack of places to go. We want to be a part of that. We want to show the governments of Earth, that the family and the community can be a nucleus for space exploration."

"How many persons are to use our old home?" I asked.

"There will be 10,000 in three months," said Jonsson.

"But you can not possibly grow enough to support that many," says Iscar.

"We are a Aerospace company, not market gardeners," says Kiani. "Food will be shipped in when necessary."

I am sure they left with much to think about. Perhaps they regard us as Lunies, a little out of touch with the real world and their style of strong company controls. In the meantime it is back to work and a little play.

My new offices are next to the Home 1 Council offices in East Factory. Work on Home 2 has reached some snags. The pressure is on to get our new members moved into more comfortable quarters.

This cannot be done until all tunneling is completed. Home 2 is still in vacuum. The East Atrium tunnel has been extended 6km south, under the solar farm and well beyond. If it had been a straight route there would be no problem. All boreworms are powered by microwave transmissions. That is fine on a straight line course. With a curve to the left of 10% then another to the right of 13%, relay transmitters have to be secured in place then removed as the bore retreats to start a new tunnel. All this takes time.

A rich iron deposit, a vein is leading us on. We knew it was there when we started. Our exploratory drilling showed it leading over 10 km to the south and slightly East. We positioned the whole Hab so the East Atrium was on target. see Home 2 cross section.

More than 27% of our costs will be paid with sales of our iron. The water extracted and cracked into Hydrogen will bring us another 20%. We will use much of the oxygen as well as the calcium and aluminum in manufacturing.

At the next general Hab meeting we put it to the people. What are we to do with a six km long East Atrium.

Halfdan said. " We need a river running through it. Stock it with trout and let us all go fishing." Allison added. "What about a big swimming hole. We can all go skinny dipping."

Laughter breaks out all over. I can see it now on the 7:00 p.m. news. 9000 Lunies skinny dipping on the Moon.

Halfdan is looking over at Allison, smiling. I know what he is thinking about.

A young woman said, "What about an athletic complex. We could play hopball, basketball, hockey, baseball, lacrosse. Make new rules and transmit the games to the Earth Networks."

An older native man said. "Flying, human powered flying, racing around a course."

Another said. "Trampolines on steroids."

There was no shortage of ideas. "What about a Lunar Circus?"

It took another five weeks to get everything dug out and cleared up. Then when the seal was put into place and the atmosphere pumped in, we finally settled everyone in.

We dedicated the East Atrium to all kinds of activities with that great river and a super large swimming hole, bathing suits required.

---

Before the elections could happen it was agreed that people could shuffle about, if they can find more amicable groups, then everyone would be happy. This left some groups with low numbers and more difficult characters.

Iscar warned us that these people were sometimes indispensable people. I know she thought of herself in this group. We have taken troubled individuals and families and place them in some of the more 'governed' compounds.

Most compounds have at least seven families and at least three single adults. ( An adult being over 18 years)

This allows fourteen or fifteen people eligible for a group assembly of nine.

We made it voluntary that two compounds can join into one assembly. If we feel there is good reason, like extended family members, strong friendships or joint child care, then joining is allowed. Three weeks after Home 2 is settled in, the Council is elected, guess who is on it.

Iscar, Will, Claire, Zeeba, Gordon, Halfdan, and three others I will introduce to you.

Paul Wolfman, was a powerful force behind the Aboriginal Health Centre, on Spadina Avenue, in Toronto. He and his wife, Helene Troy Johnson, did much of the first work in screening applicants for our 'covert' Lunar program. He is in his fifties, still strong, tall and eloquent. She about ten years younger, educated in Plant Sciences with York University. When the first flight was about to leave they gathered up five children and Troy's, Maria and Tasnin, two younger sisters and made a run for Saskatchewan. Leadership, of the Health Centre, was secretly passed on so to mislead police and continue the expanding program.

Ellen Gilmore, a 38 year dynamo of old Anglo stock, worked for the Women's Rights Council of Canada. Headquarters was about a block away from the Health Centre on Huron Street. The two groups have worked hand and glove for over 40 years.

After one hundred years of grassroots work, still women are being exploited. Perhaps the Moon will prove different.

Single mothers and their children jumped joyfully into the program. Many university courses, in Lunar sciences, are taken secretly, no degrees given, no homework marked. Ellen found a partner, Tecumseh Redsky, among the first group preparing to flee. He is her younger by five years.

She also passes on her burden to a younger capable woman.

Sarah Bradshaw lived in the Blackfoot Indian District. A semi-autonomous region East and South of Calgary. Two of her brothers worked at the SpacePort North of Saskatchewan. When information was passed on to their District Council, no time was wasted to contact Paul Wolfman and develop a group for emigration.

Part of her ancestry comes from Doukhobors, a very extreme communist movement, still living in the interior valleys of BC. Another part from Icelandic stock out of Gimli, Manitoba. She arrives with 79 members of her tribe. She is young, single and has a strong forceful attitude to fight any prejudice or any person holding themselves better than another.

We had Our first Holmstead Council meeting. I am not at liberty to tell you all we discussed there. The long involved discussions revealed to me much of what had been secret before. I felt like a rather full sponge trying to take in the ocean.

Please see First report to the Orientation Committee.

I look back at that first report and what it means to our society.

They make the statement of the acceptance and upholding of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, first published in 1948 by the United Nations, the parent of today's World Council. See declaration. Note Article 21 Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Everything is set in place for a comprehensive system of education and a system of consultative assemblies. No one person will hold any dictatory authority. All assemblies are be elected democratically but no one is allowed to campaign for office or position. In fact if a person campaigns for himself or another this is against the spirit of an honest government. It is a sign of the immaturity of that individual. Everyone can familiarize themselves with the character of people in their community and choose individuals capable of mature administrative duties.

The Orientation Committee is made up of qualified individuals from peoples just arrived from Earth in the last months. Not the 'in' group that has directed things up to now.

When people learn of the consequences of this document, their determination to take part and be valuable citizens are strengthened to the point that some amazing events start to happen. I will mention these as the story unfolds.

Copies of our Hab council guidelines found there way into the hands of administrators in other Habs. We were warned that efforts would be made to discredit us. Our only answer was to say 'may actions speak'. It is odd to be accused of communism by well educated Chinese officials.

Our intentions are for the welfare of our own people. We see no better model, than the above mentioned guidelines, for the complete incorporation of all the varied talents of persons in the building of a new society.

I was asked to continue to supervise mining operations.

Zeeba has authority to organize work forces for all food and plant production. Three atriums and a Growhouse. 522,000 square metres of soil for planting of various varieties in three different climates. We have investigated using none soil systems like hydroponics and have decided there is too many problems over the long term. The present space is, we feel, enough to support our 9000 plus numbers.

Will is in charge of all industrial production. This includes a school to upgrade workers knowledge. He will also be a resource for Zeeba's efforts.

Claire will supervise all import/ export. She will work with Allison and Iscar to manage trade both locally and with other planets.

Susan will supervise a family health centre which we intend to develop into a full feature medical centre.

Halfdan has been assigned as chief administrator of our new radio and video station. His job will be to build an organization that will take the best talents of Holmstead to entertain and inform us. Also he will be in charge of educating and encouraging new talent. Part of the radio function is to send musicians on tours of compounds that request them. He is one member of a three man entertainment committee.

A Maintenance Committee has been formed of three members to oversee all cleaning and maintenance on Home 1 and 2. This includes keeping all public areas spotlessly clean, maintaining water and air purity, and any health standards the council puts into place and reporting unclean compounds that might cause a health risk. Also they will supervise removal of garbage and handle all recyclable materials to take them to their proper locations. They will contract any changes, upgrades to optics, electrics, air and water.

After Councils election and the choosing of officers, we start a process of consulting with the many knowledgeable people that have joined us in Holmstead.

Professor Faultstaff is asked before the council. He gives a good accounting of his ideas and a future direction for our growing community. This is the gist of his talk to the council.

"I was born and brought up in Toronto. My interests in geology and mechanics led me to the University of Toronto, where I completed my thesis on Deep Mantle Mining in the year 2000. As a young man with great potential, many companies sought me out and offered me a high starting salary. My greatest interest was for a company to provide me with a wide variety of technical challenges, so I signed a five year contract with IOCC, the Iron Ore Company of Canada. I lived in Montreal and worked in the field for the next twenty-five years.

"This company's primary business is iron, mostly open face. They wanted to change that. They wanted an easy way to mine deep into hard metamorphic rock following rich veins of ore.

"My work was difficult but satisfying. I collected the best staff and enough money to make some significant breakthroughs in laser powered drilling. Ground water was constantly our enemy. The machine was fine in the hardest rock but stopped useful functioning when water and mud blocked our way. You do not have this problem on the Moon, because your water is frozen at drilling depths.

"We had some advanced machines that made good money for IOCC. If they had expanded into equipment sales, billions of dollars would have come to them. Instead, because they feared competition, they discontinued my program and retired me. I was still a young man. The company owns the patents and I am not allowed to disclose information about my IOCC work, for five years.

"The Chinese made me an offer. I moved to a small city in the interior of that country, where I completely re-designed every aspect of my boreworms. They wanted an extremely light, almost fragile, model. They told me, because I was concerned, not to worry about ground water. My boss always said. No problem! No problem! "Sometimes I am a little slow to figure out political matters. In 2042 news started coming out about the Chinese space program. That they wanted to settle large numbers of people on the Moon and that mining would support their enterprise. I then started to study the Moon's geology. I wanted to come here even then but it was not to be. They retired me. I was only 66 years old.

Still I had lots of ideas and it was then that I vowed not to tell anyone about what I had developed. My family and I were not allowed to leave China but I had friends who helped me get information. Thanks to you I can now be useful again. I understand that your prospects are now becoming limited. Home 1 and 2 are completed and you have nowhere to grow.

"I can improve your machines with many small innovations not seen on the market. Yet that will not give you any advantage if you are not allowed to make new tunnels.

"I have a suggestion. With help from your staff, I propose we build two boreworms, with a two metre cut, and start exploring. It is evident that you do not know much about what lies deep below you. We will set up a program to find the rich veins that, I am sure, lie down there. When the time is right we will start mining the depths and constructing new Habs. I see no problem in going down 2000 metres. The rock should be even more stable. Using a new technique with plasma blasting we should be able to seal the tunnel walls better than with the present methods.

"Are you not considering joining the Mars program or participating in settlement projects for the moons of Jupiter and Saturn? You will need many more people to do that. I am not too old yet. I have the rest of my life before me. Can I not contribute to your fine experiment in this new democracy?"

He came to us on the last flight that brought Professor Faultstaff and Colleen Brown. He was asked before the Holmstead Council the day after Professor Faultstaff.

Kevin is a young man, only 20 years old with many good ideas on how to build spacecraft on the cheap. "I have come to you as a fifth generation Chinese Canadian. My line is all Chinese all my ancestors have married mainland Chinese. Not that I put much importance in this, because I know you value diversity. But this is my background.

"I have no formal education from any university. All my studies have been from books and the Net. Five years ago I got the space bug and started building computer models of shuttle control systems. I soon realized that the great amount of research and development into navigation and propulsion control was only a hangover from older space programs.

"Just as the microcomputer revolution in the 2010s replaced mainframes, now is the time for powerful but inexpensive spacecraft. No one in Canada or the USA would hire me for serious work. Having no degrees by my name was a drawback.

I have investigated as best I can craft construction and rocket efficiency. I feel you people in Holmstead have the best prospect for producing some innovative vehicles."

"Can you give an example of the kinds of changes you can make?" I asked.

"Sure! He reached into a bag on the floor beside him and pulled out a handheld device.

"This can do all the work necessary to steer a ship within the solar system. It would cost you about one thousandth of the cost of the present controls on the Earth vehicle systems.

"That system still has to be upgraded to go on long journeys."

A tall, slim attractive black woman from Calgary, Alberta. Twenty-nine years old.

She is very introverted, smart, degrees in Mechanical Physics and Applied Nano Technology. Self educated in many related fields. She is agoraphobic or afraid of open spaces.

"I am a fourth generation Canadian. My family came originally from Kenya and Zaire. Because of the Canadian Black Support League my parents, both completed university and have worked professionally all their lives. I have also learned respect for education and with my parent's help have completed three degrees at Simon Fraser and the University of Saskatchewan.

"I have worked in the field of Nano Tech since 2049. Gordon and I have been coworker on a cyber project. This project uses Nano devices to speed up and refine Electro-Optical Silicon Circuits, EOSC. " I have been working for Motorola in Vancouver for the last three years. My research is directly related to this subject.

"In order for me to continue my work, I had to make a decision. Further work is ongoing at Lunar South. Like here, they have perfect vacuum conditions, and they wanted me to do a two year tour. Reports told of problems in the American program. I contacted Gordon when he decided to move here. I admire his work and give him credit for much of the success of our own cyber project. It is so good to meet with him in person."

Iscar notices the way that Colleen looked over at Gordie. She wondered about Gordie's feelings for her. "Our work should be for the good of all people. Not just for the profits of large companies. I feel that Gordon and I, with a small team of competent technicians should be able to develop Nano science here to a new level. Give us two years and we can make Holmstead a major exporter of Silicon control electronic and optical technology. I say two years but we might be able to do it in less. " Colleen concludes.

She is a woman who impressed the council even before anyone had heard her speak. She radiates kindness and a spiritual nature. I think that I have met my first angel. I have never thought until this point that angels lived among men.

She is in her late thirties, a professor in communications technology with Thunder Bay University. She has a broad interest in social sciences and hard research.

Angela is an inventor. Though her work in extremely small transmitters and receivers, she has worked in the highest of frequency ranges. During this research she discovered the Transvaal Effect.

She began to explain. "I was able to establish a receiving and transmitting station at Lunar South using equipment my laboratory developed. From Thunder Bay I could sent and receive transmissions that seemed to defy the speed of light.

"Colleen was providing me with the microcircuits I used to investigate the higher frequencies. Soon it became clear that I would need to cover greater distances. American companies were often bothering me. And I had an open invitation to come to Lunar South and work for Motorola.

"Reports of the mood of personnel working in Lunar South reached me. Colleen encouraged me to consider Holmstead. So when she called me saying she was packing, I quickly did the same. I was not able to bring anything here but my notes, but with you're people's help I can be up and running in four months. "

---

The Irish People's apartments in Beta 1, sixty metres below the Lunar surface, were very luxurious. Avril looked down from the window of her second floor flat into the large courtyard. The swimming pool was covered until the band's return. The hard cover was used as a floor for badminton or table tennis. The walls of the courtyard were decorated with Avril's graphic works, examples of her posters for the band, forest scenes similar to the one she did with Iscar. There was more than enough space for tables to be placed about the pool and a permanent stage was set up on the South end.

Elegant stairways wound up to the upstairs flats, with mahogany banisters and polished maple steps. Avril had asked Patrick if they could put in fireman's poles like they had in Beta 2. Patrick did not even suggest it to the band. She missed the simplicity of Iscar's compound and the noisy play of the children.

The band members' flats were even more elaborate than the courtyard. Rich Persian carpets hung from the walls and all the latest sound and Vid equipment made it a exiting experience to be invited in. Holographic projections could take you to any part of the Earth and make you believe you were there. The beds were enormous and well used. The band often brought there latest finds back with them from a tour.

Tahara had been one of those finds. A girlfriend for Doris, one of the two girl singers. Doris never slept alone. But Tahara turned out to be such a sad girl. Doris threw her out on the second day. Avril had managed to find her a place to stay, but after a few days she was back asking for help. That is when Avril went to Iscar taking Tahara with her. Iscar ask Tahara to stay. The girl used a single room on the main floor. This only worked until Iscar asked her to help out. She was honestly disturbed, but also often high on grass, which she smoked in her room. Soon Tahara sensed she was not welcome and moved into a room with Mel and Maggie.

The luxury of the Band's apartments, or what they called a commune, was very entrapping for Avril. It allowed her to do a lot of graphic work both for the band and for other agencies in the Hab. And this is what convinced her that it was worth putting up with her man, Patrick. Her apartment was much better in size and furnishings than Beta 2. Even other parts of Beta 1 did not have the perks that she could get, just for the asking.

She thought about how little Iscar had in comforts. Her flat was just a bed and a couple of dressers. The children's bedrooms were much the same and not very clean. The living room had a couple of chesterfields and an old Vid screen. Only the children seem to use it.

Iscar was always busy in the kitchen, doing paperwork on the kitchen table or in some meeting with members of the council. Here husband hid away in his workshop. She had no time to watch the Vid or listen to the radio. She was very good at the guitar and loved to sing the old folk music. Avril appreciated music but had a tin ear and never sang because, people had told her it was a bad idea. But Iscar did have a lot of friends. People were always coming to her with their problems. Iscar could solve them too, if people would do what she suggested. Avril had a few opportunities to witness this during her days working there.

What was it like for her now? Over 9000 people and two new Habs.

No thanks. She thought it better to stay away from such problems. She loved the Irish People's music they were so talented and professional. She loved to hear them when they practiced in the studio. There was that time when Juneau was listening to a practice. She started humming along, not out of tune either. They told her to leave the studio. She got very angry and left for the day. Calhoun had to go and find her.

She is a wonderful child. Avril loved her like a mother. June was smart and talented in a way she handled people. But her staying with Calhoun was not making her happy.

June talked about Gordon Singh sometimes. Avril hung on every word when she did.

"I guess we were both free floaters. That does not work. One person in a relationship must be practical," said June.

"I saw him at the last dance in Home 2. He seems to be a loner. Doesn't talk to anyone much but Iscar." said Avril.

"He is a good listener. We could also reach out to each other over long distances. He would anticipate my calls, know my moods before I had said a word. You should have seen it. When I called him to come to Luna. He just came. Did not ask any questions. As if he already knew everything that was going to happen. And I knew that he would know. I never doubted that he was willing and ready," said Juneau.

"Why do you like Calhoun? I find him a strange bird."

"At the time we met, he was so kind to me. He made me happy in an overwhelming kind of way. My body kept saying, more, more. And it was very mysterious having this connection with the Irish People and living on the Moon. I do like living here and I value your friendship. I don't know what would have happened if you were not here," said June. Tear flowed down her cheeks.

"You don't mind being a cleaning lady?" Avril changed the subject.

"Not at all. It does not take me very long. Especially when they are away."

"Do you have some plans for your future," asked Avril.

"I once wanted to be a fashion model, but I am too short. I like philosophy and read everything I can about psychology and social development."

"What are you wearing to the party tonight? We have invited the MacNeal bunch. Maybe Gordon will be there." Juneau seemed a bit disturbed about that.

"You used him to get here. It still bothers you, doesn't it?" said Avril.

"He still going out with Claire? "

"Yes, a fine woman. He is lucky to have her." said Avril.

"She is lucky to have him."

"You are going to be here? At the party?"

"I don't know," answered June.

* * *

I came to the party in Beta 2 with Claire and Iscar. They were in their usual good spirits, joking and making fun at my expense. Iscar was not very subtle about wanting Claire and I married. I spent most of my time looking around at the place. The Hab was very different and somewhat the same to Home 1.

"It certainly had a very different feeling with all those company people." said Avril. "When people pass you in the hall they do not say hello. Sometimes they do not even look at you. What a waste to come all the way to Luna and still have Toronto's rude manners and insensitive behavior."

* * *

The MacNeal crew had arrived. Iscar went out of her way to embarrass people by exaggerated greeting and loud hellos. They almost always responded well to her.

Some of the residences on Beta 1 seemed well furnished, while others were without anything special. We could only glimpse inside if the entrance doors were open. Not many places were compounds like we have. The largest compounds were actually boarding houses where the men ate and slept. The courtyards were filled with tables for eating.

The bosses have their wives and family with them. They live in well lighted and spacious quarters. This is not good. It can only cause trouble with the troops. This must be why they keep them working such long hours.

"Wait until you see the Irish Rovers pad," said Iscar.

The place was just huge. It was hard to believe that just a dozen people lived here. But for a band that has it's own spacecraft, they could afford it.

The band was just setting up. Pat and Calhoun were bring the last of the equipment onto the stage.

Tahara was putting out glasses and bowls of nuts at the small bar. This was the first alcohol I had seen since arrival. Our dances did not offer alcoholic drinks. It is especially dangerous in the Moon's low gravity.

People at Holmstead seem to find each others' company entertaining enough, without having to inebriate themselves. Life was just too good. Don't get me wrong. There is no overall law against alcohol and some people have made their own wine.

Avril waved to us and showed us to a small table. There was warm kisses and hugs between the women. I wanted one too but kept quiet. Each table had a bowl of the latest Earth snacks and a large ice jug of fruit juice.

"I will get you an extra jug because I know your group doesn't drink," said Avril. She winked at Claire.

I had never seen Claire drinking. My love seemed to be well balances and happy. I was suspicious of Iscar but would forgive her almost anything.

For about twenty minutes the women talked while I looked around. I guess I expected June to be there. I noticed the graphic wall paper that was obviously Avril's work, the tall crystal chandelier and the polished wooden staircases. The dance floor, I was told was actually the top to a swimming pool.

The guests came in small groups, finding tables that were reserved for them. I recognized Captain Kiani and Mrs. Khan they had come with their spouses and friends. The others were officials of the Beta Sector and a couple of people who were officials from from Alpha Sector. Allison was at a far table, sitting with a group of couples and a young man I did not know.

The Band came out of a side room, the babble quieted down. They started warming up.

"They will take about five minutes warming up. I will tell you something about them." Avril was speaking directly to me.

"Please," I said.

"The Irish People are not Irish. Only one is white, the lead singer, and his ancestry is Russian. There are seven people in the band. The two black singers are from Halifax, these girls also double on sax and flute. The man with the fiddle is from Eskasoni District in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is MicMac native. The guy on rhythm is from North Sydney, Nova Scotia. His grandfather came from New Delhi, in the 1960s, to be their first school dentist. The two guitarist are from Truro, they are brothers. Their parents came from Sri Lanka. The Chinese fellow is from Peggy's Cove, his mother still runs the main restaurant there," said Avril.

"Thank you. Claire is part MicMac," I said.

"I didn't know that. Have you spoken to Ernie?" said Avril.

"He used to play at summer dances I went to," said Claire. " But I was just a kid. He would never remember me."

Avril called Ernie over. He was a short fellow and walked with his knees slightly spread. The tight black curls were piled on his head.

"These are my friend. This is Iscar, Claire and Gordon. Claire here says she went to dances you played at in Nova Scotia. "

"At Eskasoni. I was living on the farm with Mary Paul, learning MicMac history." said Claire

"Ah, yes. She always was taking in waifs from the city. Sorry I don't remember you. I have played a lot of dances." He kissed Claire's hand and returned to his seat in the middle of the band. "Well, I can not say I feel better after that introduction," said Claire.

"He has been away from home too long. His mother would give him a licken' if she knew about his bad manners," said Iscar in her 'just from the country' voice.

Claire laughed. "Perhaps they are about to start."

Some of the people were drinking steady. Claire didn't, but Iscar kept a single drink with her most of the night. I drank most of the juice, which was very good.

Some people danced. I took turns with Claire and Iscar. When they were sitting one out, I asked Avril to dance but she nervously turned me down. I noticed her glancing over at Patrick. She was trying to tell me he was the jealous type.

Iscar invited the two Tamil guitarists over to our table after the show. She kept them laughing with her jokes. They seemed to know her well. Soon they left and it was our time.

Avril was looking me over, while I was keeping an eye out for June. As we said good-byes, June walked in and started talking to one of the women singers. She did not turn to look at me. I just left with my escorts for Home 1.

For me, a night at home was more enjoyable. But it taught me that what we were doing here was very important and that it was about time that I doubled my efforts.

---

Iscar explains some of the details behind the beginnings of Holmstead.

"My hope, my dream as long as I have lived on Luna, is to see a change in the way people live their lives here. Article 13." She says.

'Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. ' she quotes from memory. (see Human Rights)

"For five years Will, Halfdan and I lived and worked in Alpha 5. We lived a good life, have many good friends, some roaring parties and a loving family. Why should I be dissatisfied?

"My work is very much my life as I know yours is. I am a social engineer. I have studied the best ways for people to live in order to bring about productivity and happiness. The Alpha council was satisfied when I pursued productivity but not when I studied happiness. I tried to show them that it is a natural scientific result that happiness encourages better production." She hesitated. "I am tired but please bear with me. Please bear with me. I like the sound of that."

I reached over and pinched her arm. "Stop that and get back to the subject!"

"Oh right! Now what bothered me was if I had an idea or some friends came to me with wonderful plans for our community, our world, the council would always reject it. They never told us the reason our ideas were rejected so we couldn't revise them to their liking. I know what they feared. Us taking control of the Section.

"We only wanted the people to have a say within their own home. I do not think the council looked at Alpha as a home. Holmstead, I like that name. "

"That is very good, Iscar. I think you're a little drunk," I said.

"No not drunk. Where was I? Will's parents are good people, if a little strange. They are members of the Baha'i Faith in BC. I used to go to meetings with them when I was dating Will. The meetings were so boring but I did get on with his father. They were both so good and helpful.

Well, when the time came for me to decide to join them, meaning the Baha'is, Will and I were moving to China. I avoided a decision, which is a kind of decision." She laid her head on the table.

"You know the Baha'is are very big in South America. 80 million I heard. Even the Catholic church there praises them. They, the Catholics, wrote a book telling their people to join the Baha'i Faith and sent it to all their priests." she raised her head.

"It was three years ago today, I started studying the Baha'i administrative order. This is the non-personal part of the religion, which demonstrates a new method of world administration. I needed ideas and this Faith is overflowing with them. I read their sacred writings and studied their practices around the Earth. Governments like Brazil and Bolivia consult with Baha'i assemblies when making difficult decisions. I believe that is why South America has become so strong economically in the last twenty years. People have started moving back there you know. Moving from the U.S. and Canada because the southern societies are healthy again.

"A group of us were pushing for a Baha'i style government in Alpha sector. I know that we had many supporters. All we wanted was to govern our own interests." She dropped her head onto her arms. "When Beta 1 came and the Canadians, we despaired." She raised her head. " Nothing we could have imagined would have disappointed us more. They threw out everything learned during the first ten years in Alpha. They even denied couples to have children while living here. Persons are limited to three year contracts."

Iscar pointed her finger at me. "That is when we suspected that the Americans were involved. Maybe the CIA."

"I like to bight pointing fingers." I commented, snapping my teeth close to her finger nail.

"Some 'friends' have been talking to certain directors of the Canadian program. There is a lot of division there. We made certain persons an offer and a promise. We offered them 400 specialists and a dedicated workforce if they could delay Beta 2's settlement for two months. We were able to convince 200 into actually making the jump here and I guess it was enough. When our settlers started coming from Earth, then others from Alpha and Beta Sectors came. They took a big chance and so did we. We did not do so bad."

I convinced her to go to bed.

Shellby came the night after the first big party. The party where we opened up East Factory on Holmstead 1 and invited all the Habs to come to dance, eat and have a good time. Friends and acquaintances from all the Alpha sector and the Irish People and there friend and fans from Beta 1. Shellby was not the only one who did not return over the next two days.

He is American and had been staying at the Irish Peoples compound. Iscar collared him after the dance and encouraged him to take a room at the MacNeal Compound.

Later he would tell the story of his joining a small company in Wyoming and finding himself part of the space program in Canada. His friends thought he had the perfect cover to be a spy. A travelling minstrel.

He is a seeker and a free spirit. When first I saw him walking into the common, I knew that we would be good friends. He loved to play the guitar and always carried a backpack with bamboo, to make flutes for sale.

Our evenings, when he was home, were filled with songs, harmonies. Everyone would bring out instruments that they would play from their hearts.

When the two of us were alone Shellby often played an improvised tune, while I tried to harmonize and guess where he would lead. We could go for hours like this. In the evenings, Halfdan brought out his banjo, which he played very well, Zeeba her ocarina which she wears wherever she goes, Will a newly crafted dulcimer, Ghita an old set of bongo drums. We knew these were magical times. Often when the music was going on into the night I would turn around and find a dozen of our neighbours sitting around on chairs they brought with them.

Shellby is a media software programmer. Together with Halfdan and the education board, he has the contract to integrate all of our media into a useful Networked system.

Over the next year as he completed the project I watched his peculiar work habits. For 24 hours he would work no-stop. Then he would rest and be gone to Habs unknown for the next five days. Then he is back putting in another long day. We have an evening of music and joy, then he is off again. Always he carries the backpack and makes flutes for people that he has first entertained.

He was very exited when he found a new supply of bamboo in Alpha 4.

Shellby mentioned to Iscar that he was seeing a Hindu Swami in Alpha 5. He is studying meditation and scripture. It also turns out that both his parents, like Will's are Baha'is. I have looked into his room and found Baha'i books. He does not talk about anything serious with me only mentioning certain women he likes or something to do with the music.

It was several days after his arrival that I discovered that he wears an Exo-Skel from the waist down. He was paralyzed, from a broken back, while falling during rock climbing.

Will and Iscar have told him to please make regular reports back to 'his people'. There is only one piece of vital information that we will not discuss with him.

The Professor has made regular reports back to the Council. He has this to say after three months exploring with his smaller boreworms.

"I was surprised when we reached 900 metres and nothing noteworthy had turned up. One positive note is that at 1 km the temperature is still 40C below.

' That is when we got positive traces of Platinum. I asked your permission to proceed deeper following the traces. That is when we found potassium salt traces. I did not understand this find.

Still we went deeper. The rock is very stable so we continued to 2 km. Now I am ready to give an official report which I hope will not leave this room. My team are sworn to secrecy.

"We have located a vast deposit of coal. High quality anthracite coal. All tests show it not to be from the Moon, but a location in the Yukon." He paused for emphasis.

We had read the supplied report so we were not that surprises but very mystified.

"The highest rank, and hardest coal, is anthracite. In Canada it is found almost exclusively in remote regions of northern British Columbia and the Yukon. No one is seriously mining anthracite yet in Canada.

Coal is generally classified by what is known as "rank" which is based on the degree of transformation of the original plant material to carbon. The ranks of coals, from those with the least carbon to those with the most carbon, are lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. We estimate this deposit is about 2 km wide and one kilometre high. Not natural. We have no idea how far in."

"Oh, there is a problem here. The deposit is located under the region where Canada's next Hab will be built."

This prompted much discussion. We thanked the professor and watched him leave. We went forward with a plan to pull the wool over certain Canadian and American eyes.

The plan went like this. Two digs will continue simultaneously. One under our Home 2 site at 1.5 km, this we will develop strictly as industrial and residential. A super sized Home 3 to house 10,000 persons 6 atriums directly connected to it. We have allowed the tunnels to run 3 km and make the compounds roomier to compensated for the deeper conditions. But this is just a decoy. The serious digging will be into the coal deposits. All conveyer tunnels from the Anthracite find will be directed close to our Home 3 site and will come out into our refining area as if from the under the Home 2 site. It is only a matter of time before they catch on.

The news went out the next day, that we had found coal at 2 km under Home 2.

We have secured sales of much of our carbon supplies both in Alpha sector and to buyers connected to Beta sector. The professor reports that the coal was placed in the cavern some three million years ago. The tube has promise of great stability. We now have found the length to be some 35 km. We only mined 5 km and we intend to halt there for now. Council has approved that the true location be leaked out as the tunnel walls and floors begin to be cleared to the caverns sides, if an oval can have sides. A thick wall will be built to protect the remaining coal reserves from oxygen and fire.

A stream of protest came from Beta Central. They were surprised to receive ridicule from the Earth news media because they were so fooled by our ruse. Attempts were made to sabotage our vast coal reserves, stored in neat piles North of Home 2. We are waiting and capture the men before much damage is done. Their punishment, was to be interviewed by a Major Earth news station and be sent packing back to Earth. We have bought heavily into Canadian Aerospace stocks. All our expenses are now paid and we can look forward to welcoming many more of our friends from Canada to join us in Holmstead.

The Council has set a goal of 200,000 persons in the next two years. The coal has solved our nitrogen and sulfur shortage problems and allowed the manufacture of some plastics. We have grown fond of ceramic goods and will proceed with caution in the production of organic products.

We hope to find other cavern sites, perhaps potassium salts. The salt traces we have found, show a Saskatchewan source.

(see home 4)

The Coal Cavern will be strictly dedicated to agriculture and natural parks, forests and recreation. Living areas are already planned within walking distance. At least two kilometres distance. We have claimed ownership of the entire deposit and will defend any attempts to mine into it. We expect no such attempts. Tunnels around and about the Lava tube have been planted with sensors to detect any intrusion.

American heads have rolled and sensible people are prevailing. China is now allowing U.S. companies to build Habitats to the West of them in their own region on Farside. They have to pay a very high price for this. Future mining will be coordinated by a joint council including equal representation from Omega (our Americans), Alpha, Holmstead and Beta.

We are all excited waiting to get any information about the people who left us the gift of coal. So far only the construction of the cavern wall has given any information. It is a lava tube formed naturally and was cleared and repaired for the coal storage. Repair materials show the use of high temperature devices, not plasma blasters, used to seal a hundred metres deep into the rock. No artifacts have yet been found. Some organic material found in water taken from the coal at the cavern wall has revealed alien RNA fragments. We hope to find more.

---

2056

Iscar has asked me to accompany her to Earth.

We were again sitting late at the dining table alone, discussing all the problems of the universe. "I am going back to Earth." She says suddenly. She waits for my reaction. Then she smiles. "Just to visit a few friends and make some speeches. At first I tried to have Will come with me. He would not even discuss it. The children would be without both their parents for six weeks."

"Then Professor Faultstaff seemed the right person. He has the notoriety and is often mentioned in news reports. He claims his age is keeping him here and will take a rain cheque. So that leads to you. You are young and notorious among the female set back on Earth. The story of your reasons for coming here have even been used in a soup opera. As the Moon Turns or something of that sort." Iscar explains. "We need someone who can attract respect on the AeroSpace Centre Campus of the York University. You have no idea what publicity we are receiving at home."

"Car, I seldom find time to watch Earth programming, unless there is some scientific purpose. Our local entertainment is good enough for me and a hell of a lot more fun. I believe they have forgotten how to have fun up there," I commented.

"Gordie, did you know that the Aerospace students want to dedicate a new building to the pioneers of Holmstead?"

Now knowing about the trip, I worked with Will to develop an Exo-Skel, based on plans Shellby was able to dig up for us.

I feared Car was overestimating her physical abilities. I know I weighed 15 kilo here and 90 on Earth. And there was more than a year of muscles slackening to a different load, since coming to Holmstead. Iscar and I needed the computer controlled support of the Exo-Skel. An adjustable system to slowly allow our strengthening to that grevious Earthly grip.

Iscar had a long list of places and people. Many cities across Canada were on her schedule. After landing at the spaceport, Iscar was taken off to a flight for Calgary while I waited for a plane to Toronto. I immediately contacted my parents and had a warm reunion.

Mom kept telling me how skinny I was. I have grown 4 cm but also gained 5 kilo.

An old girlfriend phoned me and invited herself over. Phyllis maded offers to me. I know she has recently married but she does not mention it. I do not want to be alone with her in the bedroom. She persists in leading me there, with promises of Earthly delights. Boy am I stupid.

I use an appointment to extract myself and immediately leave for a restaurant. When people recognized me there and wanted to gab, I leave as soon as is polite.

The heat in Toronto is killing me. The Habs are always maintained around 20 C. At night it is lowered to 15 C. Only in specific Atriums is there any higher temperatures to grow tropical crops.

Old friends, whom I had almost forgotten, come to visit and have trophy pictures taken. I am glad when the speaking tour starts.

I do not know what they expected me to talk about. I mostly mentioned our new form of government, The Universal Proclamation of Human Rights, the need to give everyone a channel to contribute to the society that they live in, everyone has a right to education, work, a good home and be part of a social group that cares about them from day to day. I tell them we must allow people to be deviant, to be different.

One group I enjoyed immensely was the Handicapped Coalition. They made a well organized presentation to me about why they should be part of the Moon mission and planetary settlement program.

They came in wheelchairs, with canes and Exo-Skels. Sometimes computer enhancement improved their voice and sight. I immediately saw their intelligence and personal skills arrayed before me. A plea reached me that they wished a full part in society and would not the Moon be ideal?

On the spot, I called Iscar and arranged for her to see a presentation when she reached Toronto. " You have convince me that we need you on Luna. Now if you can please Iscar MacNeal, you have a good chance for this to work. You must concentrate on your organization. It will be in charge of all screening if this goes through. My hopes are that we can take as many of you as you wish to send." I stated.

Just in Toronto, there are over 300,000 disabled people suffering under-employment and difficulties of transportation. Perhaps our plans for settlement expansion are much too conservative.

One of the phenomena of the 21st Century is the high percentage of single adult people living alone ( 45%) on Earth. With only a few exception they do not chose to live alone. This is a hard planet to live with, even if you have a companion.

It is often their life style, bad luck, bad breath or bad habits (I never realized about my odour. Why did not someone quietly tell me when I was young and starting out ), life styles chosen in youth that they later abandon but are always associated with, homeliness ( if you smile more people will love you more ). There are many reasons that people end up alone, but the primary one is societies obsession with self and materialism. Persons do not go out and try to draw people out of themselves. People only see their own depressed selves and their own depressing purpose.

These lonely individuals are often well educated and professional. They bring a lot of smarts to the engineer's table and the boardroom.

In the fifth week of my Earth visit I had an opportunity to meet the representatives of a Canada wide dating services. They wanted to extend their services to finding new locations where people can work and live that will enhance their prospects of finding a companion.

"We understand that you have a totally different lifestyle there. This we feel will appeal to many of our desperate clients," said one woman executive. " Many of our peoples problems are caused because they are stuck in a cycle of boring but well paying jobs and few new social opportunities."

I told her. " I have a 60 pages of guidelines that I give to prospective agencies and organizations. If you are serious then we expect you to follow these steps to find the right people and train them properly for the move to Luna. We will ask you to sign a letter of intent and have our people inspect your program from time to time," I stated.

Because of the nature of our compound assemblies, their responsibility for individuals, we encourage them to reach out to others and bring them in for healing.

A request was sent out to all 700 groups. There have been 330 responses for 500 individuals. This bodes well, that we can bring in thousands in the next few years. What will we do with persons that do not reform? I think that this is a mote point. We do not envision a large prison structure. Persons on short term imprisonment, comparing our productive life to their isolation will quickly come to their senses. There is also the option of behaviour altering drugs.

Some of the groups that Iscar met with are :

1. Ancestral Blacks (blacks living in Canada for many generations often longer than other groups like the Chinese)
2. Physically disabled including all the regular disabilities including lack of limbs, difficulty in limb functions, skin disease and sensitivity to sunlight, back paralysis, blindness, speech difficulties, etc.
3. Chinese, Korean and Doukhabour groups
4. Native and Inuit
5. Elderly and retired groups
6. The underage offender (take whole family)
7. The underprivileged , welfare earner, working poor
8. The drug offender with no violent past
9. Dating services

I reflected back to my first few days on Luna.

It would have been very difficult for me to have kept myself together and gain and enjoy all my new friends if I had not asked Zeeba in the first week if she could help me find a place to do morning meditations.

With everything pulling me in a dozen directions I needed this peaceful period to gather my energies and sooth my nerves.

Zeeba wasted no time. Because she was the chief supervisor for market gardening, in the atrium, she had an opportunity to set aside a small corner at the south end as a private area with many bushes and high walls to filter out light and sound.

I would come here from five to six o'clock in the morning and leave much refreshed. It was in the fifth week that I had my first visitor.

"Zeeba, it is rather early for you to be up?" I said.

"I followed you here. I did not want to interrupt you after you had started."

I was trying to anticipate what she was going to say.

"I want to ask you, that is if you can take the time and trouble, to teach me how to meditate." I looked a my lovely Zeeba. How could I say no?

"I am not a teacher. But you can sit with me and I will give you some mental tricks to help you rise about mundane thoughts."

And so began the first of many rewarding mornings. I lent her books of Zen texts and other writings on meditation. When we moved to Home 1 Zeeba build a more elaborate meditation sight which was used by many at different times during the day.

"I had a dream this morning just before I woke up. Do you know anything about dreams?" Zeeba asked.

This began our morning dream analysis after meditation. In the eighth month it happened for the first time. We both had the same dream. Or should I say we were each in the others dream and the scenery was the same. We decided right away to keep it quiet. Not to tell even our closest friend. The feeling was overwhelming, how could we tell everyone such an amazing event.

Secrets are extremely hard to keep. Claire knew that I meditated every morning and learned quickly when Zeeba and I started leaving together. She ask me once why we meditated. I told her I was teaching Zeeba. She never mentioned it again. She and Zeeba became good friends, so I suppose they worked something out.

Sometimes we walked about the West Atrium after our meditation, discussing levels of awareness and the night's dreams. We asked each other what common or Joined dreams could mean. Are they common? Is there literature about them? Have they been properly studied?

We discussed also the powers of the mind and the spiritual body.

And a big question for us, if we are now sharing our dreamtime, are we different people from before? Maybe we have always been sharing dreams and only found out through a series of circumstances. Was this why we never had any physical desire for each other? Was it because we were closer than sister and brother, maybe closer than twins or just similar. Do twins share dream sleep? Where are the studies?

In the ninth month I asked Zeeba to stop discussing her dreams with me. " Just write the dreams down with the date at the top. After a month we will compare notes." I was worried that we were somehow cuing each other and influencing the next night's dream.

"What is this Gordie?" I had placed the two reports on the table in front of Iscar. It was late and only Zeeba and I were sitting with her, sharing hot chocolate. " They are reports of dreams we have had in the last month. I have not talked to Zeeba about them nor have I read her report. She has done the same. I want you to read through them and tell us what you see," I said.

After a long silence while she read. "It looks to me as if you are writing a rather surreal story together. Too airy fairy for my tastes," Iscar stated. "Well children, I suggest you carry on with your experiment. Write it up and maybe in a few years we can include a course in our children's lessons. "

"You do see a pattern?" Zeeba asked.

"Well they are the same story from different points. I do not know what to say about their meaning," Iscar commented.

I was a little nervous about Zeeba and I having the same dreams. I thought for sure we were cuing each other, even without words.

To prove this more thoroughly when I came to Earth, we decided to not contact each other over the net. As before we kept notes and only talked on the returning space flight.

The first week was a bitch. I meditated but no dreams were remembered, that were worthy to record. When I got out on the speech trail the dreams started coming again.

I found myself outside a beautiful bubble filled with birds and forests and shining people. Zeeba was there. She watched me from within. Soon we could touch hands as the bubble thinned between us. In the fifth week of my stay, I found myself inside a very large bubble. Zeeba and many familiar but not known faces were there. Some were new people sitting or walking while wonderful music played.

On the last night on earth, I recognized a face. It was Ghita! She was fully grown and stood still, smiling at me. It was as if she were saying. "Why has it taken you so long to recognize me?"

I reached out and held her hand. Zeeba must have recognized her then because she held her other hand and mine. We moved smoothly in a circle and soared into the sky, dancing with the music. Joy filled our hearts.

It was on the trip home that I started to question. Who were all the people in the dreams? Could they be persons, maybe children, we know?

When we came into the compound, Ghita ran up to me. She was noticeably taller.

"Gordie, we danced, we danced." I swung her around and out into the hall in a very graceful dancing step.

"Yes, Ghita. We danced. You are talking about a dream the other night?"

"You and Zeeba! We danced in the sky!"

"It is true. I remember that dream. But you must not talk to anyone about it. Only your mother, Zeeba or I."

Ghita is very smart. She understood that this is something different and for the time being is willing to keep the secret.

I later confirmed that Zeeba's dreams had the same events as my own. I started Ghita keeping a diary of her dreams. I also convinced Iscar that Ghita would gain much from joining our meditation sessions. So began our Unity and Meditation Centre.

"That is what they call me. I am a bird watcher, a bird lover. I am trained as a biologist. If you want birds captured and banded I'm your girl." She says as she offers me tea at the kitchen table. "I am very interested in your forest experiments on the Moon. I would be so grateful if you allowed me to take part in populating these atriums with our flying beauties."

"Do you have any interest in joining us? We could use your help. "

She just laughed. "I want to help you. But leaving my friends and the work I so enjoy?" She replied.

"It will be many years before you have anything to rival the great Canadian experience. Contact me in thirty years when I am fat and rheumatic."

I liked her for her enthusiasm and candor.

Iscar and I spent three days near the end of our Earth stay, in her old home on the Sunshine Coast. Will's parents and friends helped us collect valuable fauna and pack it for direct shipment to Saskatchewan.

It was a humbling experience to see old growth forest and to wander the wide spaces between two and three metre wide trunks of Douglas Fir, Red Cedar and Yellow Spruce. To watch as thin sunbeams find paths to the forest floor, lighting the fallen rotting logs and the huge native ferns. Would it, could it be like this some day in the world of Holmstead?

I found a certain spot to do my meditations. Those three mornings. It called me and made me be seated. A nearby tree revealed to me its face and showed me its mystery and some of its patience and wisdom. I dreamed the following night of a Green Man. A beautiful nude light green being, with smooth female genitalia down below. His appearance was very sensual and very real. I have carried him with me in my thoughts, but have not seen him on Luna yet.

The feeling that nagged at me those six weeks was like a voice saying. "You are an alien. Gordon does not belong here. Please leave soon, thank you."

The lonely one, the disenfranchised, the poor, the ignored. They all want to go to the Moon.

They are the ones who turned down the shit jobs. The jobs where they pay you a high salary to pretend you are an important person with an important job.

* * *

Sitting restrained on the 28 hour flight to Luna, Iscar and I have a fair amount of time to talk. On Luna it was not always easy to have a private conversation.

"I notice that you are not seeing Claire as often these last few months. She comes over and we talk," says Iscar.

"Well you know how busy I am with the wafer plant."

"I know and Claire knows that you eat lunch at the mall with Colleen."

"That is so we can discuss business. And I also enjoy her company."

"Six hours a day working together and you still want to take her to lunch?"

"I do love Claire. She is a dear friend and I want to keep that friendship."

"It is time to tell her the way things are going. She is a very loving and loyal person. She will not leave you as long as she thinks there is a chance."

"I have not thought beyond having her friendship and a warm person to hold in my arms."

"You must tell her how you feel about Colleen. You know she already has guessed," says Iscar.

"I will do that, as soon as I return. "

"You have not made a move on Colleen, have you?"

"I tried once, having two girlfriends. It was a disaster! " We both laughed.

"So did I once. I mean two boyfriends!" We laughed again. "It worked for a while. But when I met Will that stopped all my fooling around. Well almost all."

"You are very lucky to have him. Will and you compliment each other so well."

"Do not think I haven't been tempted to stray."

I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "It is not worth it, Iscar. What you have is too precious for a roll in the hay."

"Ah, yes! " She says with a little sadness in her eyes.

On the trip back to Lunar North we have much to discuss.

All the people and groups we have talked to, the desperation of so many people to find a good home where they can live in harmony, the value of adequate work and good income. The value of being able to contribute to ones community. To know the individuals in ones community, not an easy task in Canadian society, where everyone lives inside more that six months of the year. Social planning would relieve this problem.

"What about expanding the Hab program to accommodate a much higher number of people." I ask.

"I was thinking about that. I had a hotel chain manager approach me in Vancouver. He wants to start discussions on a possible chain of resorts at scenic craters on Near Side. Also he is thinking 95% Moon materials throughout the hotels. My point is, that all this would require tens of thousands of factory workers and specialists over and above what we are planning for." She concluded.

"It also helps us through our surplus crisis. We will be able to use minerals already in the storage regions."

"We have to plan this properly. We do not want half a million unemployed Lunies in ten years crying to go home to Earth. " Iscar adds.

"Just like on Earth." I add. "It always has enough for people, enough food, enough work but nothing quite in the right place. We can learn from this or we can do better. We can have the groups and the Hab assemblies discuss and plan for most possibilities."

"We must enjoy our lives," says Iscar. "That is number one. Have enough to eat? No problem there. Have a secure home. I think we can manage that. We must remember to keep well ahead of the growing birthrate. I am a social engineer. The figures are easy to calculate. But what if we have people causing social unrest? Really smart ones. Should we plan on people living up on the surface. We could be providing service personnel to the hotel resort chain. Will these people crave living above ground. "

"The resorts could turn into towns like Banff or many small towns across Canada," I say.

This was more than enough food for thought. We spent some time writing our reports for the Holmstead Council.

When we arrived at the new Holmstead SpacePort reception area, Will and Colleen and Zeeba were up at the front of a crowd of people waiting to receive family. I shook Will's hand and was truly happy to see him. Then I turned to Colleen patiently waiting to talk to me. A pressure was pressing around my heart, my knees were shaking, despite the one sixth gravity. She came into my arm and I held and kissed her for the first time. Tears were streaming down my face. Zeeba was starring at me nodding her approval. I held Colleen away just to see those beautiful deep brown slanted eyes, that shining perfect black face and lovely crown of short dark curly hair pulled back in a tight hair band. I kissed her again. Over her shoulder I saw Shellby standing back in the crowd with Claire. She saw me, turned around and walked swiftly away. Shellby stood alone for a time and then followed her.

The next day before lunch I called Claire. "We have to talk."

"Yes, meet me at Mel's Soups at 12:10."

We talked about the trip and all the people on Earth, wanting to join us.

"I am sorry about yesterday. I did not know you were there."

"You love her, don't you?"

"I love you Claire. We are friends. I want to be your friend always."

"Yes we are friends. But I feel like something is lost forever."

"I was going to tell you, about my feelings for Colleen. I have never been unfaithful to you. When I saw her at the Port the walls just tumbled and I understood how I felt about her."

"I will not claim to be surprises. But I am hurt! Shellby and me have had a lot of time to talk, over the last few weeks. He is a 'true' friend. Do not be overly concerned for me. I saw it coming from the first day she arrived. Iscar saw it too. She warned me how weak you are. A sucker for a trap." Some hurt carried in her tone.

"I was always faithful. Have I not been a good friend? " I asked. I think I was whining again.

"I wanted more. It is obvious that you didn't."

She stood up and walked away then, her soup untouched. My soup was cold, so I left too.

---

January 2057

God am I happy. Very busy but very happy.

The wafer plant has finally got up to speed, producing the largest and purest silicon wafers ever. It is now completely controlled by computers and our nano creatures.

At first we had to teach the nano devices to reproduce themselves. And then when they reached a certain number to start building all the facilities for growing wafers. Everything is located in complete vacuum in special tunnels dug outside of main traffic areas, to avoid vibration and debris. (The surface is contaminated with small quantities of light elements and molecules.) We found 3km below the solar panels to be the best location.

The next stage is progressing well. We are still hoping to have an edge in producing extremely small electronic programmable logic chips and optical relay and logic units.

The final stage will integrate the two types and sell them on the market for very low prices. It should produce a whole new generation of Computers and Communication devices.

If successful the returns will be tremendous.

We are contracted with five large international companies to produce certain circuits according to their specifications. I have six people just studying these circuits to determine how we can use the knowledge for our own use.

New Habs have been built using a new model. The Coal Cavern has been turned into a Habitat with residences below the agricultural soil layer. Only windows show on the surface. It is providing 5 km on the North end and 10 km on the South. : (see Coal Cavern)

We started to calculate our possible rate of growth and began to panic. The extra coal will stay neatly stored on the surface until we have need of it.

The residences are very roomy and generous. Only the very rich on Earth have had better living spaces than us. Our attitude is let the machines do what they do best and do not shortchange ourselves. We are worth it.

Now the children will have regular play areas near home, out in planned parks. We have light pipes bringing in the light and a view from sloping valleys of our growing gardens and into meadows of forest vales.

Because of the caverns fantastic size residing 100,000 people is not a big deal. We have left 40,000 extra spaces empty for now. Waiting for the many children that will soon arrive.

Home 3 has been renamed as 13, one of our lucky numbers. We are dedicating it to Hospital care, doctor and nurse training and human biological research.

Home 4 to 7 have been completed and are now waiting for our next wave of immigrants. These tubes are modeled as smaller versions of the Cavern.

---

2060

I have been practicing active dreaming the last two months. (willing certain actions while dreaming) Because I have had a little success, I am confident that now is the time to make the journey to Alpha Sector. Why wait until all dries up?

Zeeba and I have been able to ask and answer each other's questions in dreams. The questions were written down before sleep, but only the questioner knew the question. Ghita was more an observer and could perceive and record what the conversation was about.

I talked to Shellby who lives in a new tropical forest, that is on Home 7, with his wife, Claire, and their three young boys. We sat on the veranda of one of the biological test houses. Rain and mist filled the air in front of us, obscuring the young trees and plants in the underbrush. I had my shirt off because of the extreme heat, a cold limeade in my hand. Shellby sat back with his feet propped up on the railing, with an iced mango juice.

"I need your help on a project I am working on." I stated.

"You mean at the silicon circuit plant?" he replied.

"Very funny. I am talking about the Meditation Centre."

"You know I have my own Teacher, Swami Marta. "

"I am going to tell you about the work we have been doing. You will be surprises at our results." I told him about when Zeeba and I discovered we had similar dreams, and how we discovered Ghita in one dream.

"At that point we started the Meditation Centre and started to ask certain individuals, mostly school mates of Ghita to join us. Some have stayed and we are having great success in expanding the range of the dreamscape. This does not imply that all our dreams are shared. Only one or two a week have these characteristics.

"The meditation is not just a sideline to investigate dreams. It is a very important force in our lives and I also have many students who have no part in the dream study. " I explained.

"Just go ahead with the story. I respect your integrity," he said.

"A recent development has occurred. We have other groups of people entering into the dreams. Individuals have joined us but we have no idea who they are. We want to tour the Alpha Sector and see if our dream friends are close by."

"So I guess you want my musical talents." Shellby said.

"I was thinking that Ghita and I could join you in a small group, do a little practicing beforehand, use certain songs, with key words to trigger certain listers memories."

"Well you have certainly jogged my interest. If it is true, what you have said, and if the Alpha sector is starting to respond, then I must see this for myself. I am well overdue for a tour. It has been over a year, with my children being born and trying to get this banana farm started."

"I do play the recorder and Ghita has very much improved as a drummer and percussionist."

We decided to meet regularly for the next three weeks until finally I said. "I think we are as ready as we are going to be. No amount of practice is going to improve my recorder playing." Ghita jabbed me in the ribs with her drum stick.

We finally settled on 11 songs that we felt comfortable with. "I have made dates each day next week," said Shellby "with Alpha 1, 3, 4, 5 and 9. We will cover the others in the following two weeks."

He has done shows for many of the Habs before, so we put him in charge of arranging shows and scheduling.

That Monday morning I was more nervous than I thought I would be. After early devotions, Zeeba gave us both a hug and wished us good luck. Ghita and I collected our traveling packs, instruments, etc. and headed for the railcar. We were to meet Shellby at Alpha 1.

I recalled my conversation with Zeeba that morning. "When you first asked to join me in meditation, why did you ask?" I asked.

She stopped to think about it. "You were so lonely. I wanted to keep you company."

"So, you had no interest in meditation?"

"Not the slightest. Why would I want to meditate? I am a social animal. I feed on noisy groups." She commented.

I laughed and Ghita was having a giggling fit. "Do you still think I am a lonely person?"

"You are so dense sometimes. You must learn to ask the right questions."

"Ok, teach me." I asked.

"You have a beautiful spirit. That is why we want to be with you. But it is your nature to be alone, like it is mine to be social. "

The rail system has been completely integrated between the sectors. We spoke the command for our destination as Alpha 1 and made top speed out of Home 3 up to the Circle rail line, which serves all the Habs. It took us twenty minutes to reach the Alpha security gate.

On arrival, I passed our many items out to Ghita and we approached the young Chinese women in uniform standing behind the window in the security office. Shellby was nowhere in site.

"May I help you," she asked.

"Yes please. We are part of a music group that will be entertaining the High School this morning," I answered.

She looked at a screen in front of her and waited for me to continue.

"We are with Shellby Shannon. You have not seen him this morning?" I asked.

"Oh please come in. He is always late." She said. Her face had noticeably softened.

Ghita went in ahead of me. "I thought you would be in School today," the guard woman said to her.

Ghita responded in Chinese. "Gordie brought me here as a part of my education. I am learning about the Alpha sector."

"How is it you speak Chinese?" asked our Guard.

"Many in our commune are Chinese. I know hundreds of Chinese, some from Alpha Sector and others from Canada. But many Canadian Chinese speak Chinese very badly," Ghita smiled.

I felt sorry that it was I that had taken her away from her family and friends in Home 1. But she has been very persistent in continuing morning sessions and wants to live in our commune (it is known as the Singh Compound).

Shellby called from the doorway." Hey beautiful, what is the holdup here?"

"Hello stranger. I was just talking to your friends. Do you speak Chinese too?"

"I have picked up a few words over the last few years." He gave the security woman a kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear. She nodded her head.

"So are you going to let us in?" asked Shellby.

"I guess so, but I am going to have to tell my boss about you."

"All my secrets revealed. It is finally over."

"No, I mean that you speak Chinese and your young friend here."

"Oh, is that all? That is no secret," Shellby replied.

She sends us on to where a nervous teacher is waiting. She was probably wondering, what her next job will be if Shellby is not let through.

She greets us and leads our party through narrow hallways to a crowded auditorium full of young people. I ask our guide. "Do the students understand English well? If I was to explain some of the music to them?"

"They are not familiar with American. We teach the British language." I did not insist that I was Canadian.

A plan was forming in my mind.

Shellby stepped onto the stage and the children began to clap. He introduced Ghita as we stepped up to our places. We set up quickly. I helped Ghita while Shellby tuned his guitar. I pulled out one of Will's newest dulcimers that was made specifically for me. I tuned to Shellby. We were ready to start. I reminded Ghita to watch the faces closely.

The first song began, an old ballad the Shellby had wrote years ago. They all knew this one. The next was faster, a dance.

By the fourth song, the audience were well primed. Ghita came to the front in her bright flower print dress, and spoke clearly and slowly into Shellby's microphone.

"'Sometimes in my dreams I come here. I have seen your good faces in the dreamscape. We have danced and taken flight above the flowers and the rainbow birds. The Garden City sailed below us as we reached out into the bright sky, hand in hand.' These are the words of the next song."

I watched them. The shock on some of the faces was not because Ghita was speaking their language. Ghita step back and Shellby started in, singing softly of dreams and colours. He took the song to new heights. Much more inspired than in our practices. There was silence after, then a huge applause. We played another of Shellby's oldies then took a break.

Drinks and sandwiches were waiting for us backstage. Ghita slipped out into the hall where the children were gathered.

We continued until our session was finished.

Ghita did subtle voiceovers of the last lines of each song, to help the students to get the words. I noticed some were recording from their seats.

I was happy with the results. I had expected little from these early attempts.

We left for lunch around 11:30. I asked our 'guide' if we could visit the Flower Atriums. She was happy to oblige.

The gardens were smaller than I had expected. Special camera lenses must have been used to exaggerate the record for the Vid archives. Still it was extremely beautiful. Every square centimetre was used to great effect with all types of mosses and flowers, ornamental grasses miniature trees and giant ferns. The walkways were narrow and twisted to direct us over small stone bridges arcing over ponds of fish and leading to a miniature raised temple with an open pathway and an observation deck about it.

I fixed each garden, each object in my memory.

The radio interview was for 1:30 p.m. We had to hurry, so as not to be late. Shellby answered a couple of routine questions then we went into our fourth number with Ghita's voiceover. By the time we finished and had our afternoon snack and too many cups of tea, I was feeling tired. I laid down on a wide bench by the wall in the cafeteria. Ghita must have curled up beside me after I fell asleep. We were awakened by quiet giggles. I sat up and shook Ghita's shoulder to wake her.

"We were up very early this morning," I said. Just to say something.

"You are the man. Inside the bubble," said a young man.

"You must not say anything about him in public. Not here," whispered Ghita.

I was watching our guide sitting with Shellby at the lunch table. She was watching the group of children closely, but I could not tell if she was suspicious.

Our watchers, the dream children, left by the door. Our guide soon also slipped out. I and Ghita went over with refreshments in hand to sit with Shellby.

"I don't know what you did, but it has got people nervous. I hope it does not jeopardize our tour." Commented Shellby.

My main job was finished here. At 7:30 p.m. we were back in the auditorium with an adult audience. I hoped to let Shellby do his regular gig and just play along like we were back in the MacNeal Compound. When Shellby started into his first ballad, people relaxed, smiles started coming on their faces. Three songs in we saw them swaying, some near the back were out of their seats dancing and twirling.

Ghita was doing a fine job to keep a strong regular beat that people could dance to.

Then Shellby started on a song I had not heard before. It was one of his long improvisations and there was only Ghita and I to enhance and harmonize with it. Usually there were a dozen people with instruments sitting around when he started on one of these. We knew that he had no idea where it was going nor how it would end.

Three minutes into it, I began to invent some harmonies. Some notes did not work and I quickly switched back to the melody. Others worked well, Ghita would give me a smile when a sub-melody or a string of notes worked well. I could feel it in the audience.

I thought about the children and the great adventure we were about to embark on. My song seemed to soar in the atmosphere of Shellby's melody.

Ghita pumped up the undercurrent and emphasized the drama. I do not know how long the song lasted. I was lifted onto a new level and the notes and the voice had taken on a life, outside of my old self.

It was only much later, after arriving home and reunited with my wife and my daughters, that Colleen asked me where the words came from that night.

"I heard a recording on the radio of you and Shellby in Alpha 1." Colleen said.

"I have not heard it. Nor have I any idea of what happened," I answered.

"It was about blood coming out of your eyes." She said.

"Oh God!" I exclaimed. "I know what it is. I can not believe that I used that poem. It is an English translation. From a woman poet in Persia. A Babi and a powerful religious figure in the 1850s."

I showed he the text on my Pad.

I'd explain all my grief, dot by dot, point by point
if heart to heart we talk and face to face we meet.
Wherefore, to catch a glimpse of thee, I am wandering
like the breeze, from house to house, door to door,
place to place and street to street.

With separation from thee, blood of my heart
gushes out from my eyes, torrent after torrent,
river after river, stream after stream, sheet after sheet.
An aching heart has woven thy love with the pattern
of my soul, stitch by stitch, strand by strand,
thread by thread and pleat by pleat. -- Tahirih

"Yes that was it. There are many who are going to want to know, so I will send it to the newsletter," said Colleen.

When the song came down to land, the crowd was quiet. Shellby paused then went right into a soft quick children's melody about happiness and circular motion.

At the end we got a good applause. The people filed out and our guide showed us to the hostel, where we could sleep. Ghita got her own small room and Shellby and I got a double.

Shellby dropped most of his stuff on his bed. Grabbed a small rapped package and told me not to wait up for him. He walked out the door.

I was soon asleep, perhaps to dream.

---

When the Garden children appeared that night in my dream I was at first not active. It takes some cuing to remind me. I noticed the flower garden of the atrium and suddenly remembered my visit that day.

I greeted them, a small group of thirteen mature spirits. Zeeba was by my side and Ghita was close by observing. I lead them into the garden and up to the Temple which looked a lot larger. To each person I pointed to a coloured gem laying on the platform. I assigned to each a coloured gem and a place where they should start to meditate when they were able. I instructed them on the proper state of mind when starting. I promised them to return in their dreams to continue instruction, and when they are ready, they should actively ask questions.

When each held a jewel I bid them good-bye. The next morning I and Ghita found our way into the Garden where I left different coloured Quartz Gems in the places that my dream indicated. We spent a short time in meditation there, then made our way to breakfast and the railcar. From there we left for Alpha 3, Aquaculture, Hydroponics and rice.

At each habitat we found a small group that we could work with.

We paddled a canoe on a fish pond, visited the sick in a hospital, Ghita fell in love with a 15 year old art student in Alpha 9 and I met some brilliant nano scientist in Alpha 10.

I asked around about the dark feelings that clouded Alpha 2. It appeared three men had total control of the Hab and because they were able to keep up production, Earth headquarters was not going to investigate any complaints.

Our group was able the play there, but only for an hour one morning at the school. It was enough.

A week after our happy return to Holmstead, Ghita and I returning to Home 5 and the Meditation Centre, a new element seem to fill the air. All the new energy in the air, vibrating, making many others as nervous as I was. I talked about it and listened to the others' comments.

I insisted. "All our efforts from now on are non-political. I say we put out the call to unity of all peoples on the spiritual level. We must stand together and help each other but not try to cause any agitation or turmoil."

"We must help all people, not just our small group," said Ghita.

We now practiced sending and receiving messages during meditation. Some success encouraged us to work harder. It is difficult to be scientific but we have decided to work together with the psychology department of Holmstead U. Perhaps there is a paper in some famous journal about our efforts. Waves of power, make me weak at the knees. I find myself reading Baha'i prayers and contemplating my impotence in the sea of time and space.

We must teach the new ones to search for truth under every rock and bush. We all have to let go of feelings and agendas. Those waves of power are also waves of healing that we can direct to make well our small communities.

Do I really know what I am doing? I feel that I need a break from all this.

---

Iscar called me this morning. "Please come to lunch. We need to talk," she said.

"Right. I will be there. Colleen sends her love." I replied.

"I love you too, Colleen."

It has now been eight years since I first stepped into that original MacNeal compound and met a family that has stuck by me ever since. I hope I have not been a disappoint to them.

The MacNeals are now in another Hab and most of the original friends are living in different Habs. "Come with me into the meeting room, so we are not disturbed," says Iscar as she greets me with a kiss.

The compound is quiet, everyone busy about their day.

"The council has asked me to fill you in. They commend you on your diligence in keeping us informed about your experiments. "

"We are all working for the same goal."

"Yes, that is why I need to ask you this," said Iscar. "We have had messages lately that tell us that many are ready to make the change to our system of government. I talked to sources in Alpha Sector. But they need a little push."

"You want me to send a political message?" I asked.

"No, no. You could send some kind of message. Something to awaken them to action."

"I don't think so."

"Just one small message?" asked Iscar in her sweetest voice.

"Tell me what it is."

"Article 13, 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights.' That is it!"

"That should do it," I commented. (See Declaration)

Within a week, news came to us that the Human Rights articles were being posted throughout Alpha Sector. Within the month people were gathering there picnic baskets and holiday clothes for a trip out to Holmstead. We had little warning but managed to welcome many thousands to visit our farms and schools, our forests and parks, our factories and research labs. We made them welcome to all our shopping malls, 19 at the time. People invited them into their compounds and our people in turn were invited back to Alpha.

A month later, we too went on a journey into Alpha. Thousands of us revolutionaries out for a tour. Accepting their private invitations and some public.

It was in Alpha 5 that I was pulled aside by an older motherly figure. "Alpha 2 is about to make a move."

I passed this on and within three days we were receiving 20,000 new immigrants into Home 12. Of course this was more people than Alpha 2 could have held. The security units within Alpha 2 were somehow disabled and the people just walked out. They obviously had large families.

We greeted them at Home 1 and sent them down to Home 12 on the passenger railcars.

Home 12 was our newest Atrium, dedicated to fields of grain and melons. It could handle 70,000 persons. When the Alpha 2 Chinese arrived we already had accepted 10,000 elderly, disabled and working poor there. Many of our young marrieds were in the process of moving into this large, even luxurious compound. We always tried to mix people in and avoid creating ghettos.

The children and older people needed each other. The poor needed to rub shoulders with our creative young people. And everyone needed to feel he/she was contributing.

I think the bosses in Alpha 2 were shipped back to China. We never heard from them again. We were in for more of a surprize, what we found later, deep under that Habitat.

Oh God! What we found under Alpha 2.

Iscar interviewed a few of the women technicians that worked for Alpha 2. They were frantic, they were in tears. Iscar had to move fast before some or many, of the abandoned died.

There were some secret projects under Alpha 2. Deep, 1 km down. People were still down there without help or hope.

The Holmstead Council called the Chinese Space Agency on Earth. They were told that all information gathered could be used against them, but if they allowed Holmstead to take these people into our society, we would be gentle.

Then Iscar phoned the Alpha Sector Council and told them that China had given us the go ahead to remove all the personnel from Alpha 2.

Iscar, under the direction of Holmstead Council, called in a crew of 7500 women. They found their way by every means possible to the Alpha 2 gate. There stood up against company guards waiting for any sign of attack from the women.

"My name is Iscar MacNeal. You might know my reputation. We are not leaving. Please put down your weapons and leave now. We have permission from the Chinese Space Agency to remove these people and we will do that. Are you going to stop 10,000 people. I don't think so."

She walked forward. The women were tight behind her. Most arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder.

"We will move forward. We can not move backwards. Please go into your office and wait for us to pass." They backed down. Two of their wives stood right behind Iscar. And three of their daughters.

The large group moved forward as one. Elevators were used, doors were opened undoing coded locks, using handprint and retina scans. Long hallways deep down under. Rooms like small apartments housed the victims. They were special. Valuable items. Who knows what would have been done with them if they had reached a mature enough age.

Human flesh and minds had been violated. The fathers and mothers had no say in the matter. Most of the experiments were not on Chinese people. Some were Philippine others Vietnamese. The first that we noticed were the tall black girls. We had been warned about these. That is why no men were allowed in the rescue group.

The girls were beautiful. The oldest of the 256 children were nine years old. These older ones could emit strong sexual pheromones when faced with social situations. A man might not be able to resist his hightened desires. Even these women could feel their power.

These were quickly released and kindly taken up to become part of Home 13, where the doctors could treat them.

Clones of all kinds were found. Beautiful passive boys, highly intelligent introverts. Genetically altered freaks. Most of there differences were hidden inside. The ugly ones must have been destroyed. That is what seems probable. Examples of enhanced animals were found in another section of the lab, evidence of future human projects. The rooms were gassed then opened to vacuum. The animals carcasses were burned in incinerators and their dust recycled into topsoil.

All 1500 people were removed. Most would immediately become part of Holmstead society. They would be loved and trained to fit in with our new life.

All peoples of Holmstead were told not to talk to the press about Alpha 2 or about the people found there. No message was sent to the press.

Many patients were treated in hospital, to bring their bodies and minds into sync with our way of life. As soon as possible they were placed with compounds and families. They were to be equal partners and not to be pitied.

Alpha 2 was trying to develop people with special physical abilities to survive on long space missions. There were people with gills, low oxygen breathers, children with fast reflexes, super-calculating brains, perfect memories and perfect pitch, small bodies to relieve weight on board ships and to have small appetites. Psychic abilities, reading and sending of thoughts. These boys greeted Ghita as if she were their mother when they first met. Indeed she was their mother, for she had been unknowingly teaching them in the dream state.

The sexual characteristics were not for the space program. One pheromone girl would fetch ten million dollars on the international market, perhaps a lot more, because they were so physically perfect. The hospital immediately injected them with growth hormone inhibitors because the nine year olds were reaching two metres. We thought that there intelligence was below average, they were so passive. But it turned out that their own pheromones inhibited their mental functions. When they were neutralized it turned out they had much better than average intelligence.

China was very co-operative after this. The Council had every item documented. All files from the lab were duplicated and stored in Holmstead and on Earth, so that if China tried anything, the info would reach news agencies shortly after.

The Home Council made rulings that Genetic engineering in animals and humans were not allowed and cloning was against the principles of variety and diversity.

"We must use the diversity that nature has provided for us. We will build on the positive qualities of Mankind," said Iscar in a short speech she gave a couple of days after the labs had been cleaned and locked. Our engineers will be sent in to completely refurbish Alpha 2 for our own use.

We had an idea, an insight when dealing with the pheromone girls. They proved to be quite normal when treated with medication. They took their place in our world, married, had families, lived productive lives. With 256 of them, they did not add to our genetic diversity, but we already had plenty of that. We also had to regard all their children as siblings and warn them against marrying one another.

How does the prostitution business works now on Earth? If we were right, women were selected for their beauty and pheromone production. We learned that in the schools of many countries there were teachers. Well paid teachers, that picked out the young students and indicated them for abduction and sale into the system. These children were often moved from one country to another by sea and private aircraft. They were sometimes bred to produce special qualities in their children. We estimated that despite a campaign to shut these operations down, they were very popular, common and successful.

The Council contracted sources in some countries to shut down a few of these operations and have the young people shipped to Holmstead. We also decided to raid slave-labour work houses in Canada and Iceland. Both these ventures gained us altogether 40,000 young women and 5000 men.

They were given the same rights as us and could return to Earth after they had a six months to adjust. Not many left the Moon. We also decided to reach out to isolated communities in the North of Canada. Inuit and Native reserves that have never succeeded, over the years, in creating a rich and healthy society. They had given up on the government and themselves. We offered a hand and 34,000 took it.

---

I learn my lessons quickly.

Our schools in Holmstead are much more advanced than Earth schools, but still I felt it no challenge. In the afternoon as I turned eight, Zeeba started me working with her in the atriums. She would move from one group of gardeners to another like an orchestra leader, a regular Count Bassie. She had me, a young energetic runner, work as her messenger. I would take messages to individuals who were spread here and there across the atrium and bring back messages. This I could do because of my good memory.

It was, over a short time span, almost perfect.

I got to see the texture of the soil, the vegetation and the cultural diversity of the workers. Each had their own way of doing things and their own pace. I had to learn this and pass on the right message back to Zeeba. Zeeba and I talked about the places that these people had come from. I mean their cultural backgrounds, because most of them came from Canada. Zeeba had at all times more than 50% of her gardeners experienced with methods used on Earth. That was in the first years. As time went on we learned a lot from the plants and what they wanted. The Moon was a new fish for these Earth seeds to handle. As time passed we were able to weed out plants that would not co-operate and develop new strains, not by genetic but natural means to help them thrived in low Gee.

Zeeba encouraged me to start writing down the stories that certain women were telling me. I collected my stories and wrote a diary of my thoughts and experiences from the age of nine. This I have opened for Gordon to read as he is writing his own personal history of Holmstead.

I have used some of those stories in my small book, 'Chapters from the Garden' by Ghita Bey. A new book will continue in the same vein, 'Stories from the Garden'.

Those women were so brave, so daring. To make such a jump off the planet of their birth. I was born on Earth but have no memory of it. It took me a while to understand their bravery.

They taught their children to be thankful for a good home, where they no longer had to worry about a roof or a meal. They taught their children, that Earth is not a place where justice is applied to all. In fact, I have found a general feeling of fear, when I talk to people about Earth. They do not understand how anyone would want to live there, under the present governmental and political climate. I am talking about peoples memories of Canada, still the most advanced and prosperous country in the world.

I got to see the atriums develop. One atrium competing with the next. Zeeba wound supervise many during her years in Holmstead. She allowed each gardener to put their knowledge back into the system. One atrium group would compete with the others. The lush growth. The fruits and vegetables. Flavour and taste were the primary criterion. Others saw to it that the soil provided all the nutrients that were needed. I learned to quickly test soil readiness by sticking my hand and arm into the soil. As time went by, the soil allowed me to go a hand deep and then up to my elbow and then to my small shoulder. This was well composted soil. Worms by the billions, worked every cubic centimetre into a fertile stew. Mama and Allison had made sure from the start, many organisms were present, as in healthy organic Earth gardens. A large variety of mushrooms got placed in our ground.

It was soon found, that the lighting was inadequate. Plants on Luna required more light than on Earth. When given enough of everything they grow fast and healthy.

Avril helped design many murals, based on forest scenes on Earth. Mama loved the giant temperate trees of British Columbia. These were reproduced on the side walls of the Atriums and foliage worked up into the roof. Also many bird reproductions decorated the roof.

Later real birds were introduced to the atriums a little at a time. Real bees and non-threatening insects were added. Mama told us about marrying Papa and living in a dark old growth forest on Canada's west coast. I find it very mysterious that people allowed companies to cut 99% of those giant trees down.

We now have an area dedicated to creating an old growth forest. The Council instructed us that the lesson to learn here is, 'what type of society do we want in 500 years'. 'Think long term'. Our slogan for the next 500 years. Such a project brings many forces and agencies together. This is a resource that will produce little but tourism for 500 years. It requires four hundred metres of soil and rubble for the roots to grow strait. Maybe this will not be enough and we will have to start again.

During my youth, I trained to acquire the skills that would keep me close to Gordon. It did not seem as important to study the things that I was interested in. Nothing must take me away from him.

I grew up obsessed with this man. I have always thought of myself as a part of him, from the first day that he walked into our compound. Now I can see the flaw in my character. I will not blame anyone for this. Perhaps my mother's dominance in our compound had an effect. Perhaps Gordon's devotion to her made him a model for me. I was devoted. Mama would often call me away from him in that first year. I knew then he needed me and wanted me close, even as mother kept us apart. Because I was so busy, with school work and down in the atriums with Zeeba, I suppose that Gordon and I spent very little time alone.

The evenings were like heaven. Mother or Shellby playing guitar, Gordon sang in his melodic voice. Others mysteriously arriving with their instruments and joining in. A spirit would rise up in the room when he started his harmonizing. I don't know how it affected others. My eyes would go blurry and I would be lifted up into another world.

Just as good, I got to sit next to him on the bench and would end up on his knee. I often would fall asleep with my arms around him.

When he started going out with Claire I didn't mind. She is Mama's friend and understands that I am important in his life. But he became very busy and I started to worry about losing him.

That required a plan. When I found out that he and Zeeba were going down to the atrium at 4:30 every morning I decided to follow and remain hidden until I knew what was going on. Zeeba had prepared a small secluded area surrounded by trees and rocks for their meditation. Here they meditated for an hour. At first, I just waited and listened for Gordon to instruct Zeeba on a technique. I found it very difficult to stay awake and almost got caught. Then I tried the meditation myself and learned that it was not easy. But I learned, because it was important for my plans.

They started talking about the dream state. I started thinking about my own dreams. One day I saw an opportunity to join Gordon and Zeeba. Gordon had just arrived back from a trip to Earth with Mama. I overheard discussions about a dream that I also had. This did not seem unusual to a nine year old girl. I rushed home before them and waited for them to arrive. They probably did not even know that I was there as they told Mama about the dream they had shared. I made a big thing about how we had all danced together. I hugged Gordon and said. "We danced together in the bubble." He was surprises and happy that I was aware of this dream.

Knowing of my abilities, I soon convinced him to add me as a meditation student in the mornings. And now we were three.

Zeeba was very encouraging. I began to relax. If I got really good at this but kept a low profile, then everything could go my way. Right away, Gordon broke up with Claire. I thought this a mistake on his part.

Colleen is an Engineer, a Nano developer. I learned soon enough, that I would have to learn something of this science. It was right inside my learning profile. Soon enough I had studied most of the available material and thrown myself into the learning simulators. I took courses in many related fields and learned the Earth history of electronic and organic developments. When opportunities for apprenticeship came up, I was at the top of the prospect list. Gordon showed genuine surprize at my ambition and talent, but he did not probe my reasons.

It took Gordon about a year to ask Colleen to marry him. During that time I made it clear to her that I had a claim on him also. She wisely allowed me to remain his friend and so we learned to like each other. Colleen is one of the world's authorities on Nano Tech. I needed her knowledge and asked to become her apprentice. In 2059, it was still unusual to take on apprentices that were eleven years old. But school had little to teach me and I had proved my ability.

She reviewed my grades and tested my knowledge and imagination, research abilities and character. I became a trusted friend to her. I was her first child before the twins were born. When Gordon and Colleen married, I asked Mama if I could move to Home 13 to be near Colleen, who I was working with daily. What kind of a person would I have been? How has this obsession warped my life? I know now there is a name for my kind of character.

I am an individual person, before God. Responsible to God. I can not blame anyone for this. It is funny really. Most of what I have done in my life I would probably have done anyway, because my real interests would have led me there.

So I joined the Singh Compound. Zeeba and her new friend Ruth Winger also moved in and started a family.

I should explain something about Zeeba. She means the world to me and she deserves to be understood. Zeeba left behind a family, a husband and two boys on Earth. For years she devoted her life to making the dream of Holmstead work. She was the person with her hand on the pulse of Holmstead's peoples in it's most difficult transition period. She understood the risk, that failure would bring. For a while she filled a place in the MacNeal compound taking on the role of father figure to Susan's children. Zeeba had her own rooms and lived a simple home life. When Ruth came along, a gardener in Home 13, they hit it off. I have never seen her happier. Zeeba told me about her feelings for Ruth. How they fit so well together, each making up for the others shortcomings.

What must be seen here, and I have viewed this many times, is that they have not a lesbian relationship. They are life companions. Sex plays no part. There is no part for sex. Their friendship is complete. I envied her. If I could detach myself somehow from my bodies needs. My hormones were riding me and driving me nuts.

Here in Holmstead, homosexuality is not encouraged but, if people are discrete, then it is tolerated. Eventually people on Earth, woke up to the fact that persons could have same sex companions, without a sexual relationship.

With Zeeba and Ruth, they wanted children so they adopted four children that became available, when orphaned aboriginal children were being sent to Holmstead. They were required to sign a marriage contract before doing this adoption and this became a precedent for future pairings.

Zeeba guessed early on how I felt about Gordon. She warned me in the kindest words not to be foolish. "You can ruin your own life and destroy his marriage, if you are not careful. He is a man with weaknesses and now that you are blooming so, he will notice you as a woman."

I did not let on that he had noticed me for years that way.

When I turned thirteen, I showed my true feelings for him. There were times when Gordon and I were alone. In the compound or the meditation centre. I knew how to catch him off guard. He asked that I not say anything. Until now I don't think Colleen realized that I was his mistress. Mama knew. Zeeba knew. It was something that they seldom talked about with me, but they did ask me to be careful.

"We love him too. Many have great respect for him. You must not blacken his honour," said Zeeba. "I will do everything to help him and make him happy," said I.

"If you leave him alone, he will still be happy," said Mama.

"But I can't, Mama. I can't."

She did understand. Years later Mama told me. "Perhaps there is something greater going on here. You know I once wanted him too. He was so pure and innocent. But I was clumsy with him. He fought off my attempts by making jokes. I think he respects Will very much. I know it hurt him when I slept with Mel. He wanted to keep me on a pedestal. The valiant fighter, Iscar MacNeal.

"I am happy just to have a small part of him." I told her.

Many saw me as his personal servant. Then he soon had to stop any closeness in public. I was no longer a child. This hurt me.

Zeeba continued to try to find me young men. I tried them. I tested them in ways that they would not know that they were being tested. No one measured up. I wanted them to be everything Gordon was and more. Impossible for a teenage boy.

Meditation is the science of inner harmony. It is a mind and a body application. Don't think of people who meditate, as spiritual people. What they have is extraordinary control of their mental and physical faculties. There is certainly nothing wrong with this. It should be practiced everywhere to allow society to develop more harmoniously.

Spirituality is something I am only learning now that I have moved to Mars. Gordon was very concerned with spirituality. He incorporated prayer and scriptural readings into our meditations. He cared deeply about his students.

I was there during the time of the revolution. We sent out the messages about Article 13. We did not realize at the time what we were stirring up in Alpha 2.

People came flooding in. Everyone was suddenly preoccupied with work that had to be done to get these people settled and oriented. Gordon laid a lot on my small shoulders. I was 15 turning 16 years. Many of my school buddies were married with children. I also should have a life of my own.

Then the second shoe dropped. Alpha 2 was open. It has already been explained what happened. I was so overcome by all the evil that was happening right next door, that nothing else mattered for many months. It was my first experience with mass evil. I was impressed by how the council turned it into a positive thing. Every person made in that lab became a valued addition to our society. Gordon, Mama, Susan and Zeeba. I know how much they did.

I was beginning to feel my own selfishness. I was keeping Gordon in a trap. If I could only detach myself from him the way I could detach from everything else.

The people of Holmstead are doers, achievers. They don't procrastinate. When others spout philosophy, they are already out there doing the job. I believe they have changed the way the solar system works. They set the pace for exploration. The community aspect of man is now incorporated into all space missions.

I do not regret anything I have done in this life. It has all led me to my present happy state here on Mars. My husband Telly, my three boys and two girls are a joy and a comfort.

In 2071, I made my first trip back to Earth. The Holmstead Meditation Group, as the meditation society was known on Earth, they were asking us to visit them.

One day Gordon, without any warning told me that he was leaving soon for a tour of the planets. Colleen, Mama and Papa would be accompanying him.

He did not want me to come. How could I live with this?

Then he told me that he wished to go on a last visit to Earth. Five people from the meditation centre would tour Canada, giving talks and meeting for all our colleges there. I could come. Also Zeeba, Ruth and Claire (his daughter) were coming.

We all prepared for the grueling adjustment to Earth gravity. We needed much more bone mass and stronger muscles. I am no weakling, but this was more than I could bear. Zeeba encouraged me even though I had given up more than once. Only Claire had the problems I had. We became friends during this period. She was thirteen then. I was a grown women, she a budding one.

Before long the day came for our ship to sail. We landed near Vancouver and found our way to a small island in the Gulf Islands. One called Galiano. Gordon had once spent some time here in his youth. We rented a big house and settled in for a two week stay, while our bones adjusted. Long walks each day made me so tired, I slept for hours. The EXO-SKELs we used, gradually allowing the effects of Earth gravity to increase.

"I know about you and father. If you want to be with him that is fine with me." Claire told me this on our second day on the island.

"Thank you. You do not know how much this means to me." I answered her.

It was our last chance. Each day Gordon showed me how much he would miss me. Each day I showed him how much he would be missing.

When we left the island I took a gift with me.

Victoria was our first stop. We started our speaking tour here. Many American colleagues joined us and a few spies, just checking us out. The news networks suddenly became aware of us and splashed us into the headlines and the 6:00 pm spot. We were not to see another minute of peace, while staying in Canada.

Vancouver, Banff, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Quebec City, St. John, Truro, Cornerbrook and Labrador City. Four weeks of traveling and living in hotels. Eyes were following us everywhere. People barging into our rooms, stealing small personal items. The police would not help us.

We talked to maybe 25,000 people. Of these maybe 3,000 were genuine practitioners. I understand why people here have such problems. They get no respect. In real life you are guilty of everything until proven innocent. 45% of all people in cities live alone. There is no one watching over them. Now I understand why Mama and the early people had started Holmstead. Never would it have occurred to me, how different our lives were. Canadian reporters laughed when we talked about everyday lives on Luna. They thought we were lying. I found myself getting angry. A sign from Zeeba told me to cool it. I left it to the others to talk to the press. It was too much for me.

The tour was very rewarding. Many were trying very hard to reach the levels we had found. Many were on the right road. One Telly Bey caught my eye. He was the manger of the Labrador City Centre, our most advanced group. Gordon noticed Telly and I spending a lot of time together.

"Why not bring him back with you? He will not progress any more here," said Gordon.

"I will ask him," answered I. It was the most delightful suggestion.

I think that Telly was a little overwhelmed by our visit. When I insisted he come back to Luna with us, he could not say no. He packed up his few things and came back with us to the SpacePort in Saskatchewan.

Of course, I had to marry him quick before the others left for Venus. It was the fifteenth of April, 2071. The poor guy turned out to be a great husband and a welcome addition to the Holmstead Empire. First we said our good-byes to Mama, Papa, Gordon, Colleen and their children, Kevin and Allison and their children and many other friends that chose to go on the grand tour.

Then within weeks we also left on a voyage to our beloved Mars settlements. Telly was told right from the start, about my child. I never told him who's child it was. Jeffrey Bey was born two months after our arrival on Mars. He is much like his father.

---

Ok. Maybe it was a big mistake to sell an Orbital Habitat Station to NASA. It seemed the right thing at the time. And maybe it was a mistake to visit Venus so soon, before they had time to settle in and not take everything so much to heart. But maybe we just had to deal with these bloody people and get it over with.

When we decided to take the tour of Venus, Mars and Jupiter, I had no idea we would get stuck here in Venus orbit. We have been sitting here for eight months working on a way to extricate Will, Iscar, Allison, Kevin and some children from prison. I assumed Iscar ticked them off that first day, as she toured the new facilities. She just says what she says. Who would have thought it would start a war. Luckily it is still a cold war but we must make our move soon.

The AMO is a full sized Habitat, a Wheel Station, with a 20,000 man capacity. There is soil and atmosphere and all the standard controls. We built every millimetre of it. Assembled it in Lunar orbit and slung it here on best Venus approach. They paid us good money, but they got it cheap. It could not have been made by anyone else. Not yet anyhow. We want it back.

If I had not been sick that day, there would have been seven more in prison. My family is happily here with me.

The Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria brought us here. Each is now cabled into station rotation mode in orbit near us. But time never stands still. We have moved into a new station called AMAN also Lunar manufactured. This we have converted to a base of rescue, for our people.

When the AMO was first planned we had all systems built with a 'back door' and a 'side door'. A way we could control systems from a remote location. Also many of the circuits are reprogrammable. All aspects of the station are documented. You can be sure we know that wheel better than it's owners.

They have added defenses, firepower, we suspect traps, a kind of mine to discourage intruders. We are sure there are detectors not hooked to the main network. But as difficult as it might seem they underestimate the expertise we have on hand. I have no intention of losing any people. So it is time to call in the troops.

We have been very diligent to get the news out daily. All information we want them to know. Earth networks have been very sympathetic to our plight and many countries have stopped importing American products that do not meet metric standards. Still it has not changed USA attitudes.

---

She was conceived on Earth and born on Luna.

Her mother Joy Simmons left her musician husband for a better life on the new frontier.

As one of the first settlers to Home 2, she soon met Raymond Woo a mining engineer from Alpha 9 and they went on together to have six more children.

Joy was an accountant and financial advisor. She had a love of music and played a guitar for her own pleasure.

Hortense grew up in a busy family and a bustling active compound. As the oldest, she often had responsibility for the care of her siblings. Three of the families in her compound were native American and the others were black and single mothers.

At an early age she gained a great love for knowledge and technology. You could find her in a corner of the library accessing old history texts, or watching Vid on the early space program or reading manuals on astrophysics. Like many young people she could read well by the age of five.

When she was three years the doctor implanted into her body a growth hormone controller to prevent her growing over the one metre 99 cm limit. Her body managed at 16 years a full two metres. She was very beautiful, slim, graceful and athletic. Long blond hair and porcelain white skin made her stand out in any group. She found that young males were always in her face, so by the time she was twelve, Hortense had withdrawn into aloof mannerisms that discouraged many possible lovers.

She had few friends. Hortense often cared for her three sisters and three brothers and thought of them as her friends. The oldest of her sisters, Minnie Woo was her best confidant. They shared a bedroom and the details of each others lives. Minnie had Hortense's white skin and her fathers straight black hair and eyes.

They would sometimes visit the Mall together, Hortense four centimetre taller, and get many stares from older men as well as the younger ones.

John was a babe in arms when his parents left Earth for Luna.

His father, Fred, was a young Huron native youth, living on the streets of Toronto. His mother, Marlene Ng, a Vietnamese woman trying to support her family by begging and dancing in sex bars.

It was Marlene Ng that convinced Fred Smith to join the program for pioneering to Luna. They both studied hard and went to most of the meetings at the Spadina Native Centre.

It was Marlene that dragged Fred out of the back alley that night, when the call went out, and sobered him up on the journey to Saskatchewan, while feeding John at her breast. She was sad to have to leave her mother and siblings behind, but happy for a new start.

John remembered nothing of Earth. All his memories were of the underground world of Holmstead. He was to have three younger sisters that would play a large part in his love of family.

John remembers watching the thousands of settlers leaving for Mars in 2062. He hoped to someday join them and be part of the adventure. He enjoyed the way Holmstead planned so far ahead for each project. It gave him a feeling of solidity that sometimes threatened to leave him.

When the subject of going out on the surface, was brought up in Physics class, John cringed inside. Even when he visited the Cavern, he felt uncomfortable in the open space. Only the bravery of his own youth forced him to do it. While on a tour of the outside facilities, their guide brought up the subject of a new apprenticeship program with Holmstead SpaceCraft Industries. He jumped in with both feet.

Being a apprentice required extra hours after school each day.

On the first day, 14 boys and girls about 16 years of age, gathered around the instructors.

"You must pair up with someone you can work well with over the next six months," the instructor said. John looked around in a panic. He must have been daydreaming. He should have guessed that he would need a partner.

Hortense saw this dark skinned black-haired boy across the room when first she entered the factory office. He was the only boy not giving her the look. He was not a social animal, a loner but possibly very competent.

She walked over to him.

"You looking for a partner?" asked Hortense. " I can weld and calculate a trajectory."

"They caught me off guard. I don't know anyone here well," he said. " Yes, I do need a partner. If you can put up with me?"

"I grew up in a large family." She answered with a modest smile.

"I have three sisters." He replied smiling back.

They attended three hours of orientation classes four days a week. They studied astrophysics, controller programming, computer drafting, navigation, both surface and stellar, electrical and optical wiring, and welding.

Soon they were assigned cubicles on the floor of the spacecraft construction atrium. There the two of them could spend as much time as they liked to design and assemble a two man hopper.

The specifications said that it needed;

1. Flight range of 200 km on one fueling.

2. It must be able to be lifted and carried, by its two pilots, fully fueled.

3. It must be able to hover steady in one place and move swiftly across the surface.

They discussed the technical specifications, rocket controllers, platform balance and platform re-enforcement. Their hopper gradually took shape. Two other teams were well ahead of them. Already they were testing, for hovering and forward motion. Three teams were well behind in their designs.

One day the supervisor told them to take the day off. The following day they received a report on the design they had so far developed. The two teams ahead of them were told to tear the designs apart and start over. They all received a list of errors.

On Hortense and John's report was a commendation and a few suggestions to improve efficiency.

They turned to each other in class. With a smile and a high five, they sealed the partnership.

Something long buried in Hortense, stirred when looked into his eyes, as she felt the joy of their shared success. For the first time she did not suppress it. She decided to find out what she could do about this young man. She approached her friend and grade teacher, Maria Johnson.

"Just like you, he has been mostly at the top of his class," said Maria. "His mother is a pre-school teacher and a cook at a restaurant in the Mall. His father is an Arbourist, specializing in tropical growth. When John is not with you, he is taking a Net university course in military history. He still finds time to be on a Hopball team. He has two longtime friends from early school grades. Only one hobby that I could find. He builds decorative rock gardens. Something his father taught him when he was twelve."

"I feel like I am sneaking behind his back," said Hortense.

"No girl. You are doing it the right way. I like your style," said Maria. "I waited for two years before I married Halfdan. Marriage is an important, a fundamental pillar of any society. You are thinking of making a move?"

"Yes, I guess I am," said Hortense.

John approached his friend Halfdan Johnson. Halfdan knew everyone and could be depended on for information.

"God, John. She is a real prize." said Halfdan I know her because she sings on the radio every Friday night. Have you not heard her sing?"

"The radio disturbs my concentration. I am usually too busy. "

"I thought we were reaching everyone." commented Halfdan with a frown on his face.

"I used to listen but the last two years have been very busy." John just shrugged his shoulders. A few days later Halfdan called him to his office in Home 1.

"Her mother, Joy Simmons, is a psychologist and teacher of psychology. She is married to a Chinese engineer from Alpha Sector. There are seven children. Hortense is from a previous marriage on Earth. She is a sweet girl, very kind and giving. She gives the impression of being detached, but the boys give her a hard time. She has developed a very hard shell. She has a lovely voice and plays the dulcimer and mandolin.

"You are interested in this one? You have my blessings," said Halfdan.

"I am going straight down the tunnel. Thank you very much." Why had he said that? Til now he had not even let himself think about marraige. Now he knew it was marraige or the possible loss of a friend.

They worked hard for the next three months. Completing the hopper took up more and more of their time. In the third month, they were ready to carry the flying platform out, between them, for its first surface test.

The simulator had taught them the action of various hopper designs and the detailed terrain of most of the Lunar surface. Now they were about to try the real thing. A creation that could go really well or really bad.

With most of their fellow students watching and their teachers and supervisors on hand, Hortense and John mounted the steps and strapped themselves in. The hopper was fully fueled and polished to a shine. Hortense started the rockets and set the hopper for a one metre hover. It rose smoothly, gave itself a shake and stood in mid-vacuum pushing up a cloud of fine dust. She landed it after 30 seconds. John tried the same maneuver.

After several hover tests, Hortense moved the hopper, under power, over to the test area rocking the ship gently to see its action. John took their ship further afield. Then they were given permission to leave the test area and go out on a pre-arranged route.

John's changes to the hopper design, to the swivel nozzles and fine tuning of the control programs were proving very responsive. With a simple control stick he was controlling the height, speed and direction. An instructor followed on an older standard model at a distance.

John made a sign to Hortense to take control with her stick.

She drove the hopper up into the stars. At a kilometre the hopper refused to rise more. This was a factor of the programming which was meant to save fuel wastage. The most economical way to fly was at a height where dust was no-longer being stirred on the surface. She dove the machine down into a small crater steering it so that it ran a circuit and then popped out in the direction of home.

"Shall we celebrate at the mall?" she asked John as they pulled up back at the testing ground.

"Yes drinks and ice cream are on me," said John.

The following days they flew further afield. With a following instructor present, they tested the distance factor and were happy when the hopper only gave up after a 240 km straight course. They refueled from a fuel cash and happily returned.

One of there first jobs was to transport fuel tanks to certain fuel cash sites about the northern hemisphere.

On return, Hortense pulled the hopper into the shadow of a crater.

"So, where do we go from here?" asked Hortense.

John could see her beautiful face on the Vid screen in his visor.

"Will you marry me, Hortense. It is driving me crazy sitting here every day and not be able to touch you."

"I would be glad to John. Why have you waited so long?" She replied.

"Well, I don't know. I guess I just did not know how to start. Why are we sitting here?"

Hortense hovered the hopper and sent it forward. Immediately a message came through from headquarters.

"We are now on a war footing with the United States. Please return hoppers to base for further instructions."

Many changes were made to the hoppers of Holmstead. Hoppers were quickly fitted with sensors for various weapons systems used by Earth forces. Extra fuel tanks and air reserves behind the bucket seats. Many had weapon reactant lasers installed, to destroy any weapons trying to fire on the hoppers or the area that they were defending. ( when a weapon is fired the sensor system allows such a quick response that the weapon fired is likely to be destroyed)

For the most part the rookie pilots had the duty of patrolling much of the northern Lunar hemisphere for any signs of unusual activity. They installed defense and sensor systems on vital equipment and set traps for unauthorized intruders.

There was little time for study when they got home. John and Hortense did take time to talk to family and get married. They moved into a compound in Home 2 to be close to their headquarters.

They were promised two days off as a honeymoon, but Hortense had an idea. She went to her commander with a request.

"I believe we should pay more attention to the hotel chains strung across the equator. I want to suggest that you let John and I spend a week traveling from one hotel to the next inspecting all the facilities and allowing us to use the rooms," said Hortense.

Their boss agreed and sent them with an older married couple as backup.

At the end of their honeymoon, they were making for a fuel dump when Hortense noticed a blip on her screen. They settled the equipment behind a large rock and stepped down to peer around at a crew of four persons trying to release the locks on the security doors of a fuel locker. A hundred metres to the left stood a silver rocket craft, the standard Atkinson model. It had Mexican markings.

John installed Vid cameras and other equipment on top of the rock while Hortense kept watch. She had already radioed in her report and was waiting for re-enforcements. They waited in the shadows. In ten minutes two large frames descended from orbit. They sent out an order to surrender and asked that all present lay in the dust with hands and feet outstretched.

No resistance was given. But they were visibly frustrated and angry at being caught.

As many as 25 men swarmed off the frames, armed and ready. They carefully cuffed the thieves and inspected the ship for any evidence of spying. Then everything was taken away back into orbit, leaving Hortense and John standing by there rock in shock staring at the abandoned vessel.

"We should check out the ship for anything they might have missed," she suggested.

"Our backup should be here in a couple of minutes," said John.

The two hoppers arrived. They boarded the ship together and inspected every cabinet and nook. Hortense, still in her suit struggled down into the freight area.

"You better come John," she said.

He found himself standing in a tight aisle behind her. She turned around with a dozen foil rapped bars in her hand. The printing said, ' Moir's Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate'.

"Spoils of war. The hold is full of these," she said.

"We first need to get them tested. What if it is a trick. They could wipe us out in one day. "

"Right, but I have first pick of the spoils," she replied.

---

They named it Spoils of War or SOW for short. It was to be recommissioned for orbital defense. Many wanted the ship called Chocolate or Semi-Sweet.

Hortense received first chance to become captain of the new ship. Of course she accepted and chose John as her first officer. Another of the hopper pairs were to become navigator and communications officers. They would alternate every twelve hours with a second crew.

Again they went back to the simulators, studying all the possibilities and peculiarities of a Atkinson type space vehicle.

It was built in the style of the early space shuttles. Weight had been reduced to a small fraction using super light materials. Earth landings were possible and take-off, with tug assist, were a standard option with 20,000 kg loads.

Hortense had no intention of approaching Earth. Her instructions were to patrol in various moon orbits most of the Lunar surface and keep an eye out for incoming missiles from any direction.

It was in the third, four day watch, that John discovered the first incoming missile. He allowed the computers to site and defend, as the radio officer made it clear to headquarters what was happening. Other orbital defenses went on high alert and shot down 17 other missiles in the next two minutes. Only one got through. It narrowly missed their carbon store and thoroughly messed up a storage pile of magnetic ferric ore.

News of the incident was immediately sent to all Earth networks with footage of the missile striking its target. It was reported that much of the carbon store had been destroyed.

This disturbed China who had a 50% ownership and also angered three American companies who had recently paid high dollar for rites to transport 4000 tons of coal to Lunar South. The Vid footage was doctored enough so that it was impossible to detect that the missile was scattering iron.

Fifteen ships from Holmstead headed Earthward, within 24 hours of the strike. SOW was among them.

They used the slings at maximum gees, and arrived to be slowed by their allied forces controlling the Earth orbital slings. They surrounded NASA's newest scientific research station and boarded without incident. The crew and scientist were immediately sent back to Earth and the station powered back to Luna to orbit in position on the far side. This was a symbolic gesture. Giving the Earth a feeling for the seriousness of the Holmstead forces.

"We hold this station hostage until our people are released from imprisonment in Venus orbit. We have no desire for anyone to be hurt but if you do not comply this war will certainly escalate." That was the Holmstead announcement on the return of their ships from Earth.

Certain of the Holmstead's ships were now armed with weapons capable of destroying weapons on Earth, if the USA were to fire from Earth orbiting ships. They were placed in automatic mode in Earth orbit and the United States was warned that anyone attacking such ships will have their weapons destroyed. Also all Earth orbiting manned craft were warned to return to Earth. This seemed to have worked. All Lunar owned equipment, that could be, was moved back to Luna.

It was also known that many Earth ships were on route from Mars and the asteroid belts. They were warned off.

All trade with Earth was halted. No one was worried about hardship on Luna. We had everything they needed except peace of mind.

The word got out that the Lunar settlers had weapons that could destroy Earth structures from the Moon.

The rumor was not denied, but it was made clear that no bloodshed had occurred up to now and none would happen if everyone used their heads.

The U.S. could do little damage to lunar structures since 95% of all structures were well underground. Only one weapon could damage them and everyone knew that the US would not stoop to killing tens of thousands of people. Besides such a weapon would have little chance of reaching Lunar orbit.

Holmstead stationed 5000 people to the South Pole station. Four boreworms and all associated equipment were sent by rail south, to begin a new cycle of habitat building. Also a cleanup program began to protect the depleted ice reserves. The U.S. was informed of the occupation, only on the day it was over-run by skeleton crews, that had defected to the Holmstead side.

It became clear that there was a lot of sympathy for preservation of the South Pole ice fields.

"We will in time pay our debts to all companies and countries who have had their facilities confiscated. At the end of hostilities, we will be glad to open all our research facilities to Earth and Mars nations."

Because Luna had the largest colony by far working on Mars. This last statement was causing upset feelings in Japan, China, Europe and U.S. space agencies.

At this point Holmstead had 35,000 residents on Mars, while all others combined had 7,500. Work continued on building Orbital stations to be sent to Mars and Venus.

Hortense and John were called for the first time before the Holmstead Council.

"We would like to thank you personally for all the work you have done in the defense of Luna," said Ellen Gilmore, now chairperson of the council. "You have suffered the loss your own private lives in your duties. We find ourselves again asking for your assistance."

Hortense replied. "We are honoured that you have chosen us to serve you."

"We must ask you now to take on a more dangerous assignment. You might be aware of three ships that are under construction in the assembly bay. They are specifically built for Venus service. They will carry both passengers and freight and we want you to pilot them to Venus orbit.

"For you Hortense, we wish you to become commander of this small fleet and hope that John can become Captain of the lead ship, named the Iscar MacNeal."

"Thank you very much. We would be glad to accept," replied Hortense. Such an honour.

"You will be immediately reassigned to prepare for this project," said Ellen. "We can not say when the fleet will leave, for understandable reasons."

The other ships were called Will MacNeal and the Kevin Chong.

Again the couple went back in the simulators. These ships were the most versatile and simple to operate. Still the couple needed to study all the arts of navigation, just in case the machines and computers refused to work. Their ship would use several methods of propulsion and the three methods would sometimes act in tandem. Using cables they could configure the three craft into a small spinning station for much of the journey.

(see Venus ships)

The primary propulsion system was a power sail, using power sources stationed about the inner planets, including the sun. These power sources included the Laser power station at the North Pole and one which would soon become duplicated at the South Pole.

One cavern Home had, in the last three months been dedicated to the preparation of a huge reflective sail. A space had been in construction long before the declaration of war. Instead of preparing it for residence it was left in vacuum and was fitted for nano weaver spiders for the production of ten km by 30 km sheets of sail material.

It was a polished dark glass tube, 40 km long, one km wide and 200 metres high . At one end of the tube nano devises spooled out thread developed in other factories. Some thread was pure aluminum fibre, other calcium or silicon carbon. By a complex system of weaving many working elements were incorporated into the sail. Solar panels, electrical cabling, micro-controllers, parallel processing systems, memory modules, electrical storage systems and windows with light controlling panels.

The cloth was lifted with some difficulty into space by co-ordinated and linked multiple frames. A complex number of procedures were needed to weave the sheets into the decided size and shape. The Nano industry was very important at this stage to reduce the number of man-hours worked. All this material when finally unfurled completely in space, covered an space of a fiftieth the surface area of the Moon.

Another Home hab developed the diamond cabling and tubing necessary to hold the shape of the sail as it unfurled and gathered the light and radio waves.

Suffice it to say it was not all hand work. Many sails, when they reached Venus were patched together and set in orbit, to stop the sunlight from falling on the atmosphere of the planet.

Both Hortense and John, as well as most of the council were out on the surface as the first of the new ships was dragged out into the open on iron rails. The machine was in the shape of a long sleek white box with smooth rounded corners, 400 metres long as it lay, 60 metres high and 55 metres wide. A shining smooth creamy white box.

The other two ships were slowly dragged out and they sat side by side ready to be lifted into orbit. The William MacNeal was a powder blue colour and the Kevin Chong was a pastel green.

The units were put in orbit and two fuel tanks were fixed to them to receive final fittings for the journey to Venus. The bright lettering clearly broadcast the ships' names.

Referring to the pulling of the ships out of the atrium Ellen said. "I was told this is the most difficult part of the journey."

"I hope so," said the commander.

Later as Hortense and John settled in for the night John said. "I intend to do some studies toward a medical degree. We will have much time during the four month journey."

"Are you saying you are not happy being the captain of the flag ship for Holmstead. The Iscar MacNeal?" Hortense asked.

"Oh, I am happy anywhere that you are," she looked into his eyes as he said this and could see the sincerity in his eyes.

John had not told her that a Doctor Hussein Mommed had agreed to take him on, as an apprentice, for the duration of the flight.

---

It did not take more than two weeks for the ships to be fitted and tested. With the cargo loaded, the passengers were called to board.

Hortense was surprises at the speed of the arrangements, but she also knew the reason for it. This was the flight that would make it possible to rescue Iscar and the other prisoners.

The passenger list included 300 passengers on each ship and tens of millions of nano devices stored in dormant mode, on the freight deck. These devices were of various sizes. Some large enough to be visible.

After the first series of sling stations, at the highest gee force for passenger ships they started the HO rockets. This forced them into a high speed exit. Only one of the two tanks was emptied. The second tank was still full for the slowdown. Both rocket motors were used to balance the drive force.

Each ship carried a part of the huge power sail. It was then all unfolded. Cabling was attached and the sail spread to catch the many power beams, soon to be aimed at them from Lunar North. The ships were also cabled together in a ring and attached to the sail at a rotating centre point. Thus they gained back their gravity and could go about arranging the ships for human activities.

In the one empty fuel tank on each ship, bedrooms, offices, kitchens and cafeteria were assembled. This tank was specifically designed to have most of the floor plan already in place, after the fuel had been spent.

On one side of the sail the power beams were reflected, pushing the ships toward Venus. On the other side, the ships were simulating a space station, rotating on a central hub. By using a small shuttle the 900 passengers were able to visit with one another.

Hortense and John found this a wonderful time. Most of the passengers were young technicians in the nano industry, but they were also settlers, who hoped to make Venus orbit their new home.

John dedicated his time, many hours each day, to study and working with Doctor Hussein, in his office. Sometimes the Captain was required to make course adjustments and reconfigure the sail, to pick up from other power sources. At mid-course both commander and captain were required to start decelerating, receiving laser power from automatic devices in Venus orbit and Solar orbit. This required a flip over but little inconvenience.

On the final approach the sail was folded and released to be captured by local Venus ships. The, lived in, fuel tanks were similarly released. The wheel was disassembled and the ships used their remaining fuel tank to decelerate until they were finally grabbed by sling stations and inserted into Venus orbit.

The whole trip amounted to four months. It could have been much shorter, but they had no options for choosing their best window.

As soon as was possible they were asked to meet with Gordon Singh and a small council on the orbital station AMAN. They savored the rich coffee offered them. A careful blending of beans grown right on the station.

"I have been following both of your careers," said Gordon sitting casually across from them in his large office. "I welcome you to Venus and hope that you will enjoy a good rest. But already, we have a special request for you. One that requires the skills that only you two have at present. It is your cautiousness and tact that recommends you."

"We only wish to be of service. Feel free to make your request," said Hortense as she watched John at her side.

"Yes, please go ahead," said John.

"At present, this is Top Secret. Surprise and speed are our main weapons," said Gordon. "You know we need to rescue our friends on AMO station." He continued. "But we also do not want any injuries. Now that your passengers and cargo have arrived, we will proceed to take action. Our goal is to get the AMO station crew, on ships and out of the area quickly. That is approximately 11,000 people, including some children. We intend to ship them directly back to Earth but we don't have the option of using sails for a fleet of 30 ships."

"That is quite a fleet," commented John.

"Yes, 14 ships are ours and 16 will be theirs. We are having a hard time getting enough rocket tubes to power them. We will be ready, with the fuel. Many supply barges have proceeded and followed you out of Lunar orbit. Our decision has been made. We cannot wait any longer."

"John and I will need a lot of help. The American vessels are unfamiliar to us," said Hortense. "We heard that you got very familiar with an Atkinson class ship," said Gordon.

Hortense smiled. Gordon's heart was close to breaking, with the beauty of this young woman.

"We will help you as much as we can," explained Gordon. "Our intention is to have only three crews and control the remaining ships by remote. You will be completely cut off from your passengers and they will not be able to detect which ships have crews."

"How many crew on the three ships?" Hortense carefully asked.

"Only twenty-four. Your ship will have eight. I know this is asking a lot. The journey will take seven months and will require many hardships," concluded Gordon.

"We will do it, if this can help to stop the war," said John. "As long as Hortense and I can be together, we will manage."

They took residence in the station for the next month and sat out the rescue of the 'Iscar Gang'. Nano devices were smuggled onboard the American station and on cue disabled most of the operating systems. Most of the integrated circuits on the station were of Holmstead design and were easily sabotaged. In the end there were few injuries and no deaths.

---

If more than 2000 Americans had not volunteered to stay behind as settlers, it would have been extremely crowded on the 30 ships. Their most difficult job involved keeping an eye on a very depressed and angry group.

The long journey home proceeded without incident. Until about mid-course a small band on the ship that had most of the big shots, started having 'social' problems. Using gas, John organized a party to board and separate the trouble makers.

They already knew from the hidden cameras and sensors, who were causing the trouble.

On each ship the trouble makers were named and the people warned to watch out.

John was able to complete, despite interruptions, most of his studies, by the end of the trip. John and Hortense led the whole fleet to Earth orbit where shuttles waited to take the relieved occupants home.

Leaving the American ships in orbit, they borrowed fuel tanks and sped back to Luna.

Hortense was two months pregnant and they were glad to be back.

In the third day, after a large celebration, they were again in front of the council.

"You must be aware that we, the council, have taken possession of all Lunar facilities and resources," said Ellen. " The World Council has had to acknowledge our nationhood and give us a membership on the Council. The fact that we now have a substantial defense force and possession of both Venus orbit and much of Mars, was not lost on Hortense.

"We now wish to strengthen our Venus presence. This will require two new stations in the next five months with many enhancements not found on our original stations. We first considered asking you to go out with the first station in a month, but thought that you two deserve a rest and time with your families.

"Now that I have given it away, the next station will be ready in ten weeks. Will you consider becoming commander Hortense and your husband first officer of the IDEA. This will require not only a commitment to the voyage, but a three year contract dedicating yourselves to the successful assembly, settlement and administering of the station functions."

They agreed.

"You might want to talk to friends and family. Ask them to join you in your new pioneer post." Ellen mentioned.

The station functions could be studied on route to Venus. The flight functions required less than two hours of simulation study each day. This left them free to spend time with family and friends.

Because they had spent so much time together, in the last year, they quickly agreed to separate, each to their families for the ten weeks. John found this more difficult than Hortense.

Hortense found celebrity a bit disconcerting. Especially within her own family. Only her mother and Minnie Woo, her oldest sister, could relax in her presence. Her friendship with Minnie blossomed again. Hortense was very happy that her sister was becoming recognized as a important graphic designer. Her pictures and animated work were being used in the school system for simulation testing.

She was intrigued that her present sponsor and teacher was Avril Arrow an old friend of Iscar MacNeal. This woman had only recently moved into Home 4 from Beta 1, after it had been abandoned by its Canadian company. The war had changed much.

Hortense's oldest brother Collin was following in his big sisters footsteps and hoped to become a space jockey before long. She examined some of the work he had been doing and was impressed with the amount of preparation the students were getting. The Space Sciences School should not find any difficulty in accepting him.

It wasn't until the third week that she got up the bravery to mention that it was possible for them to accompany her on the trip to Venus. That if they chose to ride in the station they could take all their possessions and ride in style.

In the fourth week Hortense's family started coming round with questions.

'Like what could we do there that we can not do here? Is it not scary always seeing the sun and the stars? Was it not very cramped on the station?' The answer for the last question was 'no', it is just as roomy on the station and very much like living in a large atrium. And no there are no large windows on the station. Vid monitors show views of Venus and the stars. Because the station is always turning, people would get sick, seeing the constant moving of Venus, the Sun and the stars, in real time.

She talked about the program to connect together all the solar sails and block out the sunlight to Venus.

"In five years we will see the beginnings of a new Venus. The thick atmosphere will begin to rain out, most of its heavier elements and reduce the surface pressure. It should be a site to see!" said Hortense.

Her father, a retired mining engineer or a man in transition, asked if she thought it would be a good place to do some writing.

"I need a change. I want to write about the early years of Alpha Sector but I don't seem to be getting anything done here," he said.

"A change is worth 150,000 words, Dad," said Hortense.

Her mother anguished over weather to stay or go.

"I came here without anyone needing to convince me. And I have loved my life here. It is the itchy feet syndrome. Should I follow my heart or stay here with my many friends?"

"Why don't you bring your friends with you, Mom?" said Minnie.

"Minnie, why don't you ask Avril if she wants to come," mentioned Hortense.

John was having a similar influence on his own family. He played Hopball with his old team buddies and persuaded some that Venus was a wise move.

His father asked if he would consider a tropical climate section on the station. His mother considered the birthrate on the stations which was 30% higher than on Luna.

His sisters talked of the strange tourist people that were starting to come into Holmstead.

"They stagger around and look at us as if we are some kind of animals in a zoo. It is starting to get crowded here and we are not very happy with the changes," said Blossom, his oldest sister.

She had a steady boyfriend, she was trying to convince to come with her. John could see the boyfriend would not let Blossom go without him.

"If you need more time, there are other ships that will be leaving after the station. But the luggage limit is just 200 kg," said John.

Hortense heard that Colleen had arrived on Luna from Venus orbit. There was talk of a breakup with her husband. Hortence decided to get it from the horses mouth.

"Good evening, Colleen it is good of you to see me so late," said Hortense.

"You are welcome. Please take a seat and I will put on some tea."

"I am surprised to see you here. There were some rumours following your arrival," said the younger woman.

"I bet there were. He is a good man but I found myself the odd man out. It is strange that the children 'all' take after their father. You know he is crazy about you girl," said Colleen.

"Yes, well! I did nothing to encourage him. What is happening with you two."

"We were legally separated before you came to Venus orbit. It was me that decided to make the break. He would never be so disloyal. He has had a few lovers. Always he has his spiritual loves, his Plutonic relationships. I don't think he ever slept with anyone else," explained Colleen.

"So you are getting a divorce?" asked Hortense.

"It will be coming through in two months. I did not like leaving my children so far away. But they are all grown, young people now, with their own lives. Do you want him?" He told me in a state of weakness shortly before I left. How he saw you as some kind of goddess," she asked.

"It is tempting, but my life is very stable now. I love my husband and I will not jeopardize that."

"Then what is the reason for your visit?"

"I know that problems might arise on my return. Just say that I am developing contingency plans. Something to protect me from myself. It will make it easier for me if you say nothing of my visit," said Hortense.

"You are a very special young woman. I can see why he might be attracted to you."

Hortense, later in the week, went to visit Avril Arrow. The young commander made it clear she was getting to know her sister's friends.

"Have you considered coming to Venus with us?" she asked.

"I am very attracted to the idea. It would be good to make a clean start."

"I hear that you are a good friend of Iscar's," Hortense said.

"We did some work together many years ago. I have always kept in touch with the children. But that is impossible now with them so far away. Except for Halfdan I have very few friends left here."

"I hear you know Gordon Singh?"

"Only met him briefly a few times. I liked him very much." Avril answered.

"Too bad about the divorce," Hortense casually mentioned.

"I heard something about that," She seem to perk up and a new life came into her eyes. "He seemed to be a very caring and kind man. Was it her that left him?" she asked.

"Seems that way. He is a man that won't stay unmarried long. It will be interesting to see what happens," said Hortense.

Hortense rejoined her husband on the day they were to inspect the now orbiting station. They would spend the next five days troubleshooting and directing the stowing of supplies and personal items. All of the computer equipment was functional and could self-diagnose. It was now only necessary to anticipate problems that would occur with passengers, who had no flight experience and were completely out of their element. Anticipation prevents accidents.

Hortense noticed with satisfaction personal items belonging to Avril Arrow. It was going to be an eventful time with her babies, twin girls expected within a month after entering Venus orbit. She was not too worried. Two doctors were on board, one being her husband. He had assisted in the birth of a pairs of twins during their stay on Luna.

The skeleton crew numbered only 60 people. Their friends and families numbered 340 persons. They were right on the weight limit set by the strength of the sling stations that would throw them Venusword. Again they had many rocket modules and a large power sail. The trip was ideal and within 65 days they were inserted into orbit. The babies still waited inside, as the father got more and more nervous.

There was much to do before the station could serve any useful function. But in the first hours after arrival she was ask to come over to AMAN for a visit with its commander.

She was anxious to meet him and give her report. But she was also hesitant because of her own repressed feelings. Seated now across his coffee table, in his office, she suddenly felt very relaxed.

"Never did imagine myself a space jockey or a station commander," said Hortense.

"I know just how you feel," he said. " When you start out you aim at something and later, if you persist, you hit something. But as someone once said. 'The devil is in the details.' Or the journey is in the entertainment. "

"I never imagined leaving the Moon. Only being able to play some part would have been enough," she said.

"Do you think you can stick it out for three years? There is a lot of responsibility and people will heap blame on you when things go wrong."

"I suppose so. Never did it before. It seems as good a life as any."

"Personally, I would be very happy to be back working in the lab. But there are so many young geniuses about. I can not compete with them," said Gordon.

"I hear you are divorced. Is it hard living single again?"

"Colleen said she talked to you. Is it hard? More than you might think. But I have my work and my interests. Challenges are all around me and my children are here. But it is hard."

"I brought an old friend of yours with me. She is on the station and I think she wants to see you."

"I didn't look at the passenger list. Guess I was too busy. I can't think of who it might be."

"Think of old growth forests and falling leaves."

Gordon's heart skipped a beat. " Avril? Here? But why did she come?"

"Well if we have talked enough, I will leave and send her over on the next shuttle. She can tell you herself." stated Hortense.

"Thank you. I owe you one."

"You don't owe me anything yet," she thought to herself. 'Avril you have saved me from myself.'

They walked slowly together until they reached the shuttle gate.

"Do you practice meditation?" asked Gordon.

"Not in any organized manner. I have been wanting to look more into it," she said truthfully.

"I will have someone contact you later. She can teach you a lot," said Gordon as she left.

Hortense wondered if Gordon knew about her problems during the last year, suffering a nervous stomach and on occasion her hands shaking. She had regular medical exams and had asked her doctor about it. The doctor told her it was just adjustment problems. Gordon's question at the end of their meeting had sent her mind off in a new direction. She looked down at herself as she sat in the shuttle seat. The long bulging belly could not be ignored and all her concerns about overpowering sexual desires had come to nothing. Instead Gordon might have given her something more enduring, something that proved his true love.

Maybe this cycle of depression, she had been suffering, could be lifted.

How was it possible, that she should be depressed, when she had all the things that a woman could want. She only just remembered to send a message to Avril, that Gordon was expecting a visit.

For the next two weeks Hortense and John were very busy, as the station began to take shape. The supplies had been arriving daily in large white, blue and yellow boxes, then towed to the import bay. Much of the goods were rather grubby because they had been packed in sand, gravel , rocks and top soil for their whole journey from Luna. All the pieces had to be separated and cleaned. The box itself could be disassembled to become parts for the orbital station.

---

She called me the Morning after Hortense's visit. On the Vid, she looked fresh, if a little nervous. "You don't mind if I come over for a visit? You must know I am not with Pat anymore. I left him a year ago to live in Holmstead. Sorry, I don't mean to be so obvious," said Avril.

"Avril, if you are obvious, you are just as lovely. Please come over. I will meet you at the gate. Take the 11:00 o'clock shuttle. "

I made sure I was there at the gate to meet her. Some moments in your life, it does not pay to be late. She came off the shuttle with a guarded look on her face. She looked up to me with questions in her eyes. I hugged her and kissed her cheeks and then her lips and gave her another hug.

"Come with me. I will show you around," I said.

I reached for her hand. She held on tight and I walked the paths of AMAN with her.

We talked mostly. About the early days of Luna. The trouble, that window of opportunity, the success, the good days that we hoped would stretch on and on.

She talked of her days working with the Irish People. Designing their Disc covers, meeting Patrick, them moving in with him.

Her friendship with Iscar helped her deal with her unhappiness with Pat. She would always come to the dances. Sometimes I was there, with Claire or Colleen, so she was very careful not to flirt too much. Our one time to talk our minds came one evening, when I dropped in to visit Iscar but she was out, and Avril was babysitting the girls. Between discussions of Winnie the Pooh and Spiderman, we conducted a searching conversation about the reality of that which we perceive and what is but a reflection of dreams.

I was very surprises at the direction of our talk. I felt that I was entering a new door and going in a new direction. What my heart told me was, this is one of those eternal friends, a companion who will always be there, when I need her.

I talked now to her about this. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. I moved them with my thumbs. Kissed her eyes.

"It was a part of my life that had to stay on hold. I knew always that you were there, but there was nothing I could do. Events moved on."

We moved very casually forward found a place to sit. A bench in a secluded spot. All around the young Oaks and Hickory, Walnut and Beach trees sheltered us.

"I live in a world of imagination," said Avril." That is my job. I live by visualizing new worlds of fairies and hidden people. I do not know who is inventing who. The design world requires me to pull a surprize out of an ordinary scene, comfort in a hellish vision. It is something I was born to do," said Avril.

"Can you image us married, Avril?"

"God! It has been hard to think of anything else these last few months. It was starting to affect my health, not knowing."

"Is that a yes?"

"Was that a question?"

"Avril. Will you marry me?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes man. Now kiss me," said Avril.

We waited only four days to give our friends time to prepare.

It was a simple marriage and we did not go anywhere. That is I prepared an apartment which Avril would use later for her studio and teaching centre. We spent a week in seclusion getting to know each other.

"My name is Claire Singh. You were interested in a certain subject, that I can help you with," Hortense was seated in her office unable to get up because of her pregnancy was close to completion. "Excuse me for not standing to greet you. You must be Gordon's daughter."

"Yes. I am also working in your communications department. It is my first assignment away from home." Claire is much the same age as Hortense. She is dark skinned with fine facial features, tall and well shaped. Her black hair is cut very short and is showing signs of curling. She sparkles with the energy of her youth and shows her eagerness in every word.

"I am honoured to have the daughter of Gordon Singh working on my station. You are very welcome. Would you like some tea? I will have my assistant bring some in."

"I was wondering when you would like to start your studies. I am not as skilled in the science of meditation as many, but I can certainly get you started and teach you the fundamentals. "

"I have been thinking about this a lot. I could best do this if I had a time early before the main activities get started. Everything might be in disruption soon because the babies are eager to get out," said Hortense. She was pointing in the direction of her womb.

They discussed scheduling details and Claire was given permission to prepare a room, near the office. The twin girls were born the following week. Hortense only allowed three days to pass before getting back to work and her studies with Claire. Her youngest sister May Woo, served her as a governess and relieved much of the difficult work of her new mother status. May was also involved in studies to become a mid-wife.

John was worried that his wife was taking on too much, with her daily responsibilities and the babies and now the early morning meditation.

"This is the way I want it, John. If I can't do everything, then I am wise enough to stop something. The meditation is helping me get through the day."

In the sixth month of her studies, Hortense was sitting quietly in her meditation seat, beside her sat Claire reading a scripture out loud. She listened and concentrated only on the words and the meaning, as usual.

Suddenly, a great weight dropped from Hortense's shoulders. Energy surrounded her toes and rushed up her legged, pushed through her abdomen and rose into her head push intensely, at a spot between her eyebrows. She kept her state relaxed as she had been taught, concentrated only on the scripture and the meaning. For an hour she sat, then another. Her body was forgotten in the wonderful feelings of transcendence. Her removed her mind on occasion from a wayward thought.

Claire waited as she always did for a sign from Hortense. Since she had started teaching Hortense, she had found the commander a very intelligent and hardworking student.

Claire's personal practice of meditation had been slipping. Trying to detach herself from a love and attraction to her student. Today she thought maybe she found that separation and finally succeeded. Hortense was about to graduate to a stage they called the 'valley of detachment'. They would be on a more equal footing.

It was not their practice to discuss much about what was happening in meditation. The experience was all that mattered.

Hortense arrived very late for work that day. Her male assistant had covered for her. He knew where she was and that she must not be disturbed. She soon finished the few appointments she had left and went on her weekly agricultural tour. Only a young woman, who served as recorder accompanied her.

Hortense was bright eyed and smiling as she walked about the station that day. She saw the gardens and the small trees in a different light, the gardeners seemed to have glowing roots reaching down to join with the tree and plant roots. The air about the gardeners and the trees had a secondary light a fringe of colour that she had not noticed before. She could feel and see the state of health of the plants and somewhat of the people, that greeted her warmly as she passed. They seemed today to be especially friendly and happy to see her.

She spotted a pile of soil with underlying potash.

"Under that compost is a pile of salt. Don't use it or the trees will die," Hortense said to a young woman kneeling by rows of young maize corn, near the small woods.

"How did you know Commander? I only covered the potash an few minutes ago. " She said in surprize. "I know you're trying to save room but someone else could have used it by mistake," said Hortense.

Hortense was only surprises that she was not surprises. It all seemed so natural.

She decided to walk the whole length of the station visiting all the garden experiments and grain fields. She watched the many robot cultivators and weeding bots progress steadily in there labour saving duties. There was no particular energy coming from them.

She waved to John's father working with the stakes that held young palms straight during their first year. They grew so quickly here.

About half way around the ring, she took a staircase down to Level 2. It was a bit cooler here. The ceiling was much closer because of the floor above. Fifty metres only seemed close because of the curve up of the horizon. The support struts were coloured a light green and did not distract from the overall beauty.

Here were the rich textures of the many greens of ripe vegetables, young replacement plants and the climbing vines and trellised fruit trees, making a very pleasant picture. She found a spot to take a bench and flip off her shoes. Her recorder, Dina, was off in the distance, talking to a beautiful young man, covered in glistening sweat from his labours.

Hortense laid her head back against the bench's high backrest. Soon she found the buzzing of the bees and flies had put her to sleep.

"Hortense. I was waiting for you here," she was sitting on a bench in a garden not much different than the one she was sleeping on. Above her floated a shining man. He did not look like Gordon but she knew he was. He reached out his hand and she took it, rising and floating up with him. Many others were there. She did not know them but they all had friendly faces and shinning bodies.

"You can speak here. We are all friends," said Gordon.

"I am dreaming. And I know I am dreaming. Why are you here?" said the other Hortense.

"We meet here often. Just for the joy of it." said Gordon. "But not just here. Come with us."

He pulled slightly on her hand and suddenly she was in a bubble above Luna. A large bubble. The moon was covered with a vast old forest like something before the time of man. She sailed with the group into a deep hole in a circle of trees to land on a rounded knoll. Many people were occupied here with a group of dancers and beautiful singers. They waved to her and smiled. They were happy that she had finally joined them.

She probably would not have remembered this dream but her recorder woke her with a touch on the shoulder. Dina thought she might be sick. Hortense apologized for her laziness and rose to continued her walk on Level 2 arriving home late. May had left for here midwife lesson and John was already sitting at the table having diner. The twins lay quietly in baskets beside him.

Hortense reached down and removed the milk sack from the holder on her belt and put the collected breast milk in the cooler. She removed the device and tubes from under her shirt and the suction pads from her nipples.

John said. "You had a long day?"

"You wouldn't believe what has happened today. But I am not ready yet to talk about it. First I will eat, then play with my babies and have some sleep," she was tired but happy. John looked a little strangely at her, but said nothing.

---

"There is a meeting next week on the station AMAN. Gordon and the meditation society far away on Luna have felt a need to discuss our successes and plans for the future. You are very much needed and invited to come. It will be an all day event on Saturday May 23," said Claire to her brilliant student.

"I will be glad to come," said Hortense. "I hope they are not expecting me to say anything?"

"Only if you wish. To schedule a talk please tell me in the next two days."

* * *

"Have you remembered to use the 'Energy' to heal yourself in times of rest. Many forget about it. By remembering, you can turn it on and by using meditation it will surge through your body and cleanse your potentially debilitating tensions," said Claire. "Not many experience the 'Energy' as strongly as you do. I know of only seven in our group on the Ring that use it. Myself, Iscar my sister and Gordon are three. Perhaps it is genetic."

Later Hortense was given the news that AMO was being decommissioned to become a Holmstead Station. Many of the Earth personnel that had chosen to stay behind with the Lunies were now leaving for Amo to start cleaning up the old mess. They had most of the information necessary to restart the systems and enough parts had arrived for refurbishing the station.

"We will keep the old name but not the old 'Atmosphere'," said Gordon. "Kevin Chong has been given the responsibility of Commander."

"He could make the prison a museum. Charge a credit to come and see it," Hortense said.

"A good idea. As long as it does not become a Lego World." He responded.

"How is Avril? It has been two months now since you were married."

"Just fine. Avril is pregnant."

"I was just checking to see if you knew. Everyone else seems to know," said Hortense.

"She is rather concerned. Her first child at 45," he said.

"Well it is becoming very common. I have six women, on my station, over 45 and pregnant. She should be fine."

"I am sure you are right." He concluded. He seemed relaxed as only an experienced father could be.

Before the meeting, on AMAN, Hortense greeted Gordon in the hall outside the assembly hall. Claire waved as she passed. Gordon introduced his other daughter, Iscar the other identical twin. He left them together and went to talk with an older man.

"Are you taking part in the conference as well?" asked Hortense of Iscar.

"Yes, but I am just a beginner. Not as advanced as my sister."

"I am just a beginner myself," she said. "It looks like it is about to start. Shall we go in?"

The room was laid out simply with two large Vid screens on the front wall and about 60 seats in rows. A small stage up front allowed the speaker to be seen.

The left Vid screen was announcing a Mars transmission about ready. The other had the emblem of Holmstead on Luna.

Hortense and Iscar sat side by side, about mid-way back in the seating.

"This is crazy," said Hortense. "We can't have conference calls from Mars and Luna. The delay will ruin the meeting."

Iscar reached over and held her hand like an old friend. Hortense did not pull away but looked over at her.

"Just wait. It will make sense soon enough," said Iscar. She looked back at Hortense with mischief in her eyes.

Hortense waited, while the rest of the participants sat around them. She closed her eyes briefly allowing the 'Energy' to surge through her and into the hand that was holding hers. Iscar's body shivered and relaxed. Her grip tightened slightly.

Up on the screens, the Mars Vid showed a similar sized meeting assembled. The Luna Vid showed a much larger gathering of over a five hundred people.

Ghita was standing on the Mars stage and the camera focused in on her.

"I would like to thank you all for coming," she spoke of the forces of meditation, the concentration of the forces of mind and spirit. The mysterious powers, that were revealed and not yet understood. Zeeba spoke, after only a ten second delay from Luna. There was a gasp from the audience. Some stood up in amazement. Others up on the screens gasped and stood after about ten seconds.

"I thank you Ghita but at this time I must explain that this is the first conference call to be done using the Transvaal Transceiver. It has been in development for many years. A message can be sent at 19 times the speed of light.

"Now the Medium is not our Message. Shall we continue," said Zeeba.

Gordon and Claire spoke for the Ring. Then lunch was announced. There was still much excitement about the Transceiver but people were beginning to get back into the subjects of the conference.

After lunch there were several talks on subjects that could be aided and enhanced by Meditation.

Here is a list;

 1. Acupuncture
 2. Healing by the laying on of hands
 3. Futurology
 4. Sci-fi writing
 5. All types of diagnostics and healing of humans, animals and plants.
 6. Pre-school teaching the healing message in free flow children's stories.

Finally it was emphasized that assemblies must be encouraged to use prayer and meditation during and after their consultation.

Hortense had enjoyed the people, the subjects and the new communications network.

Both Claire and Iscar were to return with her because all the stations were to be fitted with Transvaal Transceivers immediately.

"I will be hooking you up first, after all the tests are finished," said Claire to Hortense. "Every ship and vessel will have them soon. It almost completely eliminates the second delay about Venus."

"What is happening with the Earth nations? Are they developing their own system?" asked Hortense.

"They are trying, but Angela Transvaal has the Patent on the wave modulation system and the Transmitter system," said Claire. "She has some legal action in the courts to claim part ownership in the Transvaal Effect, which she invented at Thunder Bay University. The university claims ownership. She only wants a share."

"So the Earth nations will have to buy Holmstead's transceivers." Stated Hortense.

On her arrival back home, she told John about everything that had occurred. She was full of the wonder of it all and excitement for the future.

John was beginning to feel as if his decision to avoid involvement was shutting him out from a huge chunk of his wife's life.

"Is there room for others in the meditation group? I am beginning to feel a little lonely," asked John.

Hortense hugged her husband and thanked him for the years of patient understanding he had given her.

"Love, I have only given you a mere shadow of the love that you deserve. I am glad that you have found so much support from your new friends. " he said.

Now IDEA station was in full operation. 18,000 people made it their home and workplace. Half were involved in the station operations and the agricultural projects. The other half were doing research and Venus exploratory work. In five years they hoped to see the possibility of Venus surface work. The many sails used by spacecraft and station voyages to Venus were now cabled together, held at a fixed distance from the planet by a craft that constantly tugged against the solar energy hitting the reflective mat of sails.

Five years should show some significant temperature drops in the atmosphere.

---

Iscar phoned Susan from Venus Orbit. Susan sat at the dinner table. "Susan. You must know that a ship came in to Luna today. 5000 new settlers, mostly natives from the Spadina area."

"Yes, we are going to be very busy with them, over the next week. The clinic has to catch all the mental and physical health problems that the screening people on Earth missed."

"There is a young man, I want you to talk to him individually," said Iscar. "He has special problems and if you could talk to him, outside of the clinic."

"I am not a doctor or a psychologist. What can I do."

"Just talk to him. Invite him down to the park in the atrium. Be a friend, until he starts to open up."

"Why this one? Your not trying to set me up?" asked Susan.

"I just have this feeling. I read his profile. Please humour me," explained Iscar.

The next day after lunch, Susan found her way down to the parkette for the interview. She was not comfortable being alone with a man newly arrived on Luna, one who did not know anything of Luna society. She sat at the picnic table, listening to the birds singing and the breeze in the trees. She sat in the shade of a large Walnut tree.

"Why don't I come here more often? It is like a medicine to sit here," she had spent thirty minutes going over Armann's file this morning. Now she had nothing to do but wait.

Armann came on time, lead by a young man, assisting at the clinic. Armann saw her first. She seemed to have her eyes closed. She was a native like himself. This surprises him, because the boy said she was the supervisor of the medical clinic. She was short, but had strong good features and high cheekbones. Susan stood, when he had almost reached the table.

"Good morning Armann, my name is Susan Johnson." The assistant quietly left.

They both sat down. Susan was reminded of someone or sometime. It eluded her.

"It is very peaceful here. Everything I have seen so far has exceeded my expectations," said Armann. "But I am somewhat puzzled, why a important person like yourself should need to talk to me."

"A friend of mine, on the council, suggested I talk to you. I am not a doctor, only an administrator, so there is no medical reason. I once lived on the streets of Toronto. Maybe she thought we had something in common. I had to leave my husband behind and raise my children without their father. They are well grown now. I had a lot of help from my friend Zeeba and all the people in our compound. My oldest boy is 23 years and is a GP at the clinic, the middle one is a dentist and the youngest one is a biologist with the University."

Susan seemed very happy about her children.

She found it strange that she was doing all the talking, or bragging.

"Please forgive me for talking so much. I am supposed to be interviewing you. "

"Don't feel sorry! I spend much of my time listening to other people's stories. I do not want to talk about myself," said Armann.

"I read your file. They were very hard on you."

"Not any more than others."

"You need to find a new purpose here. Try to forget the way it was. You can heal here, if you allow yourself to trust people again."

"I will try."

"But you are going to need a job. Sitting around will not be good for you and I can see you are a proud man."

"I don't know whether I have thought about it before. The pride factor I mean."

"You need something to work on, four days a week. I have a job at the clinic. Just a cleaning job, if you want it."

"Sounds good to me. When do I start."

"We will be having you in for tests this week. Say on Monday. I will leave instructions with the desk," said Susan.

She didn't seem in a hurry to leave. He thought he saw interest in her eyes. He wondered if he should show interest. It has been a long time since he could trust his emotions.

"Would you like to see the garden?" she asked.

Armann started work, entering the world of the clinic, the following week. The cleaning was not difficult but it had to be done well. Bots cleaned the floors, walls, ceiling and utilities. His first job each day was to use a scanner to be sure all surfaces were well done. If there was a problem, the bots responded immediately to the scanner. He removed bed clothes from the empty beds washed the bed frames and any details the bots could not easily reach.

All this did not take more than three hours each morning. He got permission to use a Web terminal when he had spare time. He also talked to new arrivals as they waited for treatment. He soon realized that there were thousands of stories here. If he could interview people for their tales, certainly a great deal could be written for historical interest and for educational value. Besides he wanted to hear their stories. He had learned to live within their stories.

Every day, Susan found an excuse to pass by the room, where Armann was working. If he saw her, she said a polite hello. He liked the confident way his sister walked about the halls. The click of her heals, the rhythm of her body. She had her finger on all aspects of the clinic and her wisdom was much greater than she let on.

Part of this clinic's purpose was to develop a full compliment of herbal remedies. Susan had fifteen young men and women working on testing, growing, preparing and distribution of these medicines. They were also correlating a complete text on the present state of knowledge related to herbal medicines.

Within a month, Armann had developed a routine, which did not require his mind to be involved. He had time to choose and invite people to be interviewed for his weekly journal. He promised them complete anonymity if they wished. He chose a particular spot in the Western Atrium as his office.

(see Armann's Weekly Journal)

He also discovered, that he had more than enough money and had to sit down and think seriously about what he should do with it. Never before, had this happened to him.

"I will buy a Pad. The Totally Integrated newest model." He thought. The Pad was a computer, phone, TV, Web terminal and general writing pad. It was often used in education as the main device for reading all written material.

"I could buy a wall hanging type Vid also and still have enough to get a haircut and a shave."

In the third month he had made some friends among the new arrivals. This was fortunate because the arrivals were about to stop.

Susan came into the room where he was cleaning. "You have done a fine job. Would you be interested in a more challenging job?"

"Not me. I like the routine. My challenges come with keeping my journal going," said Armann.

"You really need to write."

"I do. It seems as much a part of my life as breathing. When I had nothing else, it was a comfort to me. It has kept me alive and healthy all these years."

"I would like to invite you to dinner tonight. Do you like spaghetti?"

"You bet. Are you cooking?" he asked.

"My turn in the MacNeal Compound."

"I don't know any of them, it might be a bit awkward." Armann said.

"They will be very glad if you come. I have told them all about you."

Armann was surprises that she would bother to tell these important people. " I will come and spaghetti is fine with me."

Armann stopped in front of the compound and looked at the murals on the corridor walls. Here was one of the originals from Home 1. A copy of the one done by Avril Arrow and Iscar MacNeal in Beta 2. It was in good condition. He found it almost hypnotizing, drawing him into the underbrush. Murals were found everywhere in Holmstead, distinguishing compounds and adding a bit of beauty. He walked into the courtyard and around him he saw potted plants and small trees, a small fountain sitting in the centre. At the north end were two long oval tables, laid with the place settings for an evening's meal.

Armann followed his nose to the kitchen behind the dinner tables. Susan was busily moving between stove and counter, sink and cupboard.

"Hello!" he said. She looked up and smiled.

"I am running a little late. I see you found the place."

"Not difficult. Do you need any help?" he offered.

"Yes, you see the colander hanging over there. Put it in the sink and dump the spaghetti pot into it. You know how to do that?"

"Yah, I worked in a million soup kitchens on Spadina. "

"Ah, Spadina, I remember it well."

"Yah, sure. It's a fine place if you have money. The food you can buy there. The restaurants, the variety and the smells. "

"The voices, and the dozens of languages spoken with pride and long tradition," said Susan.

Susan pushed a large blue button on the wall.

"You can serve out the pasta on those plates. They will be down soon." Susan carried out the meals to the dinner table.

The meal and the sauce were excellent. The company was a very happy group. He met the three sisters and their husbands, a son and his children. He talked to Halfdan and Maria and one of their grown daughters. They all spoke of Iscar and how they missed her. She and many others were on a journey to Venus, a tour of the planets.

Susan's youngest son, Gerald, his wife and two young daughters were there. He is a biologist working with the Department of Agriculture.

"You have to join us more often. We have no-one here to give us a link to Earth as it is now. " Said Song Aibao, one of the early Chinese men engineers. "I find Earth moving farther and farther from my imagination. We move forward and they seem to learn nothing. Your reason for coming here is proof that not much has changed."

"Yes, please come again. We welcome your new face." said his wife, Yan Yan .

Halfdan and Maria cleaned up, while some stayed to talk around the comfortable table. They told some of the stories of the early days. Halfdan later joined them with guitar in hand. He played some folk songs from the last century and others sang along. Susan was singing an intricate harmony. Maria was accompanying her husband on a alto recorder.

Later, as everyone left for their apartments, Susan brought him out a cold lime drink.

"You are welcome to visit me in my apartment, I have some Billy Holiday tracks."

"Yes, I love listening to her music." I followed her to her small, one bedroom apartment to the west side of the courtyard. We carried our drinks with us.

I sat down on her comfortable Chesterfield, and watched her movements as she qued the music in the player. She always gave an impression of a young woman, though I knew she was forty one. She was well shaped and carried a healthy layer of fat all in the right places. She had left her shoes at the door, her toes and fingernails were polished with a mauve sparkling sheen. Her lips were slightly red and her cheeks were blushing.

'Give me more and more and then some', sang the woman, dead more than a hundred years. The feeling was growing and it was frightening me. All those memories will start flooding back if I open the gate. I soon excused myself and tried to leave saying, I would see her in the morning.

She reached out her arm and took my hand at the door. "It will be alright. You must go on with your life. Make a new beginning."

"Not tonight." And I fled.

I was not living that far from the MacNeal Compound. A walk of less than a kilometre South. Mel's Compound was an active centre of busy entrepreneurs. Mel ran a restaurant on the mall. The others were often not around when I was home, so I did not get to know them well.

Mel's wife was a popular singer with a busy nightclub in Beta 2. There it was possible to find alcoholic drink. I had no interest in the drinking and I did not know many who did. Most compounds did not allow it.

Smokers have become even more rare here than in Canada. There are few private places for people to smoke and again it is banned in most compounds for health reasons.

Susan approached me the following day as I was finishing up my Journal.

"You want to join us again tonight. It will be Chinese," she radiated confidence and happiness.

My heart and other parts of my body were jumping. "I do like Chinese." I said lamely.

"Then it is a date. " And Susan walked away.

I arrived on time and joined the group, feeling very comfortable with my new friends.

I knew that she would ask me in tonight and I knew I would not be leaving till the morning.

As the evening closed, she asked me into her apartment.

"Why are you so interested in me?" I asked her, as we lay on her large bed.

"Why would I not be interested in you. You are a kind and gentle man. And very young and vigorous one as well," she added.

"I thought it was all finished for me. It is a miracle what Chinese food will do." I joked.

"Your sure it wasn't the spaghetti?" She responded back.

"I am not sure of anything anymore. You want to rumble?" I rolled over on to her ample frame.

"It has been a very long time for me. Take it slow," she replied.

I left early in the morning, though I was sure that everyone else was aware of what we were doing. They might have even conspired to bring it about.

I talked to her the next morning. "I believe that people, who really love each other, should show that love by marrying. Do you love me, as much as I love you?" I asked.

"God, I do love you. And I don't see any reason for waiting. You want to do it next week. The compound assembly can complete the paperwork."

"We ought to hold off our desires, until after the wedding. " I said. She put her arms around my neck, where I sat.

"If you really want to," she said. She dragged me into a private room off the hallway, where we spent an hour consoling each other. I think that is when the twins were conceived.

Susan and I were sitting in her living room that evening.

"One of the programs being developed at University Hospital, is a treatment for long term brain damage. One of the results of your tests shows definite signs of long term damage, but not a serious case. The researchers are using herbal supplements for this problem, added to food. This requires a strict regiment so that, at no time are two herbs being used at the same time. They can improve the health of your brain cells and dendritic recovery. " Explained Susan.

"Will it improve memory and motor function?" I asked.

"That and many other things, like neural reflexes, learning speed, especially related to language and logical thinking."

"Would it help me become a tennis star?"

"No, you boob, but it might help you walk better. That leg of yours has damaged nerve connections to your spinal cord."

"So we are talking about healing more than the brain," I commented.

"Well, the spinal cord is an extension of the brain, and the nervous system has some very brain like functions. The treatment doesn't limit itself to your head. " Said Susan.

"Would you feel different about me, if I refused to co-operate?"

"Well, I might get pissed off for a while, but I would hold onto you," said Susan honestly.

"So, when do we start. I'm sick and tired of being stupid."

"Let us get married first and then we will start. I am the one who will be monitoring your supplements. The whole process is done slowly over about five months. We will need to make weekly checkups during that time."

"Perhaps it will do something to lift my depression?" mentioned Armann.

"I have another treatment for that," she pulled him close on the sofa.

We were married in the park, down in the West Atrium. A few of my new friends and everyone from the MacNeal compound were present. It was simple and dignified. I rented a suit for the occasion. Susan wore a traditional white gown. She is very traditional. I can't get into that.

Two Vid cameras followed the ceremony. Parts were shown on the six o'clock news. Susan is an important person on Luna. Now that Iscar and Gordon are off planet, she is getting more news worthy. Halfdan has asked me if I would mind being recorded for a medical documentary.

"News does get around." I commented to Halfdan.

"It is up to you. I know about it, because you have both talked, at the dinner table," said Halfdan.

"I don't mind really. Are there many cases of failure with this treatment? "

"You better ask the experts about that. I know that these plants were only found in the last thirty years, in the African Congo. Many specialists here, have spent years testing and analyzing the effects. I know that some subjects have had great improvement in memory and reflexes. I have not heard of any bad effects."

"Can you introduce me to anyone on this program. I don't want Susan to know about this."

"I guess I could do that. You are looking at one. For many years, I had difficulty with memory and rhythm in my music. I can do many things well now, that I did poorly before. I will try new things, that I would not have tried before the treatment. I even walk straighter and have more spring in my step."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"I am fifty-seven this year. Maria says that I am acting half my age."

"Is she happy with that?"

"I think so. We are even thinking of following Iscar and Will out to Venus. Just for a change in pace. The place isn't quite the same these days."

Susan and I have been married four months now. The treatments have made a great change in my moods. I am not the same person. I feel I can learn and accomplish anything that I set out to try.

My prospects are certainly wider, but I still find my greatest satisfaction in talking to people about their lives and recording them. The problem now is, so many people have had treatment that I am losing some of the feelings, understanding the tensions, that people had during their Earth lives.

Not a big loss. I am happy for them. I think our IQ level on Luna is going to go through the roof. Pain from my leg has just about disappeared. I walk straighter and have more energy. Doctors say that over the last ten years of treatment, there have only been five new cases of MS and not many other neural illnesses have occurred.

"The greatest achievements are sometimes created by the smallest of changes. We have taught all our young people how to cook delicious meals. We challenge them to come up with new recipes, which they cook weekly. We have no lack of taste testers." said Susan.

"You must have the ingredients for a whopping recipe book here. " I commented.

"The quality of the vegetables is very important. You must know the great effort we put into having the best grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables. We stopped importing food from Earth, when we realized just how toxic their foods are. We have even started a small export market for specialty restaurants, on Earth. They pay very well."

"But no meat, I have noticed."

"Has it hurt you." Susan asked.

"I don't know. Before I came here, I could not afford to buy the stuff. Even the sausages and hotdogs I ate were veggie."

"You just feel better when you are complaining, then."

"I am just feeling good. You want me to show you just how good I am feeling?" I asked.

The war began in October. I thought it my obligation, to make a few comments about it in my journal.

Susan was very upset that Iscar, Will and the children have spent so much time in jail.

I found the whole incident very interesting. Never did I doubt, that the smarts these people have learned, would not carry them through this crisis. They used the political baggage that Earth and specifically the USA carry, as a weapon against them. The pride of the Earth's greatest nation, has been sullied more than once this century. The US still regards other nations as somehow lesser than themselves. They still take the bully's position. And the study has been in on bullies for many years.

(see Armann's Weekly Journal )

Embarrass them. Pull the rug out from under them. Never let up, until they turn and run. Then wait for their return and do it all over again. Get an apology. A private and a public apology. Make them pay for damages and watch them so they can not do anything similar again. Then embrace them and accept them as an equal, but always watch your back. Always have something in reserve, just in case.

I will try to get the word out, that USA agencies have failed in their efforts to settle the solar system. I will always make them look bad in front of the rest of the world. Every victory that Holmstead accomplishes, I will raise it to their face. I will make Holmstead look good. This is not hard to do.

Holmstead has a very cohesive government structure. It should be studied and copied in all parts of the world. They have every two years, a chance to elected the most qualified and competent people to the office of the high Council of Holmstead. Every Hab has an assembly, elected annually and every compound has its own assembly of nine. Laws are carefully made and quickly dissolved, if they don't work. Every law is taught in the schools, so no one has an excuse to plead ignorance.

Holmstead does not have to wait for the approval of a top heavy administration. Within hours there can be meetings and decisions. Their policy is to always be prepared for difficult situations. And they knew this war could occur. Now they make it work to their advantage. It is time to claim all of Luna for their own, as a protective measure. Because they could be very vulnerable to USA forces, they had to claim Lunar South and Omega Sector, sending the Earth boys home. Because China might ally themselves with the USA, they claimed Alpha until the war is over. All personnel were allowed to stay, but not on their home base. They are encouraged to join us.

Beta did not put up much of a fight. They got out, knowing that their property would be treated with respect.

Our young people have begun to patrol the surface with their hopper flyers. I know they will protect us well. Some of the ones I have spoken to, are so smart and careful. You don't live long on the surface if you are not careful. They live in a world of ideas. Ideas that they know they can try out.

On Earth people often get ideas, but seldom have the stamina to fight the system, to get an idea tried. Soon they give up, and don't try to come up with any new ideas. This is a waste and a weakness of the Earth system. When I see this new Lunar society in action, it reminds me of the early days of the Jews, moving into Israel. They are quick to respond and will try something, even if it has never been done before.

We will turn every attack of the USA to our advantage. The more they try to make us stop our progressive society, the more we will chastise them for their abandonment of their own people. They built their nation on the poor settlers forced out of Europe. Those rejects made the USA strong. Now they have forgotten their own rich resource. They deny them medical assistance and enough food and shelter to recover. They that have the riches of the world in their pockets deny anything outside of their own circle.

Our young people now insist that we start a program to fill the orbits of Venus with space stations. That we collect all the power sails that we use to get these stations there, and join them all together as a reflector to stop the Sun heating that evil atmosphere. With the sun not shining on the Venus atmosphere, someday we will be able to live on the Venus surface.

Already a dedicated tube has been prepared, to manufacture solar sails with the greatest of speed.

Other Atriums are now manufacturing parts for the orbiting dry docks. To build big wheel stations to be flung towards Venus. Many are now volunteering to be settlers on the new stations. Susan has mentioned it to me. She says her knowledge could be put to good use there.

The stations, I am assured are very much like Lunar Habitats. They will be supplied with soil and all the conveniences of home. The only difficulty will be the journey out. I have about a year to make up my mind. But I can tell that Susan has itchy feet. She loves me to scratch them sometimes.

---

April 3rd 2072

The twins were born last week. They are beautiful angels. We called them Yan and Ting. I have also agreed to go to Venus. Most of the people in the MacNeal Compound are going. I have grown so fond of them and feel they are my family. I can not stay behind nor force Susan to stay as well. "You had seventeen years here. Why do you have to spoil a good thing?" I asked her one morning."

"Life moves on. Right now Venus is where it is happening. I don't want to wait, until I am too old to go. We can always come back, if we dislike the place," said Susan.

"I'm sure I will love every bit of it, as long as you are there," I commented. It is a revelation to see, how these people are treating space flight and settlement on other planets. None of that 'three men in a boat' stuff. Take the Queen Mary and all your relatives. Make sure that there is not one inconvenience. I wish that were completely true. The crews on the space stations are small, only 500 and the ships taking most of the people fit 4,000 in not so roomy quarters. The ships are provided with lots of good food, Vid movies and study programs. People here think a good study program, with its mandatory simulator, is better than any other entertainment.

We go after a few weeks. I have started attending council fires. Many of my contacts and friends asked me to join them at the meetings, that have been going on for years. We have the freedom, the time and the money, to celebrate our heritage. We are into a program, to educate our children, about what they once had before the arrival of the white man, in North America. We hope to send well informed people into the universe, proud of what they are and knowing where they came from. I hope to invite Susan to join me at the next meeting. I estimate that more than half of Luna's people have some Native blood. That is incredible. It also means that we will soon be more numerous than our North American brothers and sisters.

The tunnels continue to be mined. New habitats, beneath the Lunar surface, are being added every six months. Number 14 through 16 Habs have been completed since I arrived. It takes very few workers to maintain the machines working hard to expand our settlement. The new homes are tube shape 800 metres wide, 500 metres wide and 40 km long. Three donuts can house 500,000 persons and provide 110 square kilometres of agricultural land. These three places have tried something new. The tubes are joined as a donut. Secondary tubes cross to join opposite sides, just as the wheel stations do. The tubes are located slightly to the West of the coal cavern and everything is connected by rail and elevators. We are considering trying a spiral shape in future tubes. These can be as long as 300 km and reach depths of 5 km.The materials we spew onto the surface, are the minerals we use to produce the space stations and the ships, the household items, the power sails, and the toothpaste. We still maintain a strict rule in the tailings storage on the surface. Everything is kept neat in one area. The rest of the moon's surface is strictly swept to be as clean as before we arrived. Even with the tens of thousands of people leaving for the Venus Ring, we still will be increasing our population. At present, we cannot import people from Earth, but still the birth rate has us growing at an astronomical rate. My two babies have been accompanying Susan and I, as we tour the Habs. We are very familiar with Home 1 and 2. They were built along the traditional design, set by the Chinese Alpha program. Home 4 through 12 are long straight tubes, then there is the Coal Cavern and the Spice Cavern. These are gifts from some alien friends. We have yet to identify them. And I mentioned the donuts, 14 through 16. Home 3 is the hospital Hab. It is growing too small. If we weren't all so healthy, we would have replaced it years ago. We have seen the Habs of grain, the Orchard Habs, the Lake Country, the tropical forests. We have attended sports events in the Lunar Sports Complex in Hab 7 and taken the long hikes through the old forest in the Spice Cavern. Ok, they are not very old trees, but the intention is to let them get old. Maybe 500 years. I wanted to see the power sail factory but for security and clean space reasons, I had to settle for a 3D journey. We were able to briefly visit some of the Space station and Spaceship factories. The noise was a reminder of the streets of Toronto. The workers are well valued and well paid. I kept thinking during all our tours that we are really saying our good-byes.

The war is over and we have prevailed. Now we control Venus, Luna and I would say Mars as well. It will be good to have the surface hotels open and restart the immigration program from Canada. I think we should loosen up the requirements for street people and the poor. We can now afford to be generous. What will Canada do if they can't blame the poor and oppressed for their problems? We could remove a whole neighbourhood like Flemington Park and spread them out over the many habitats. No health or intellect tests. Just take them with all their warts and see how it turns out. This would be a voluntary program like every other program we have had. I am going to suggest that we let the Canadian government pay the cost for the shipment of future peoples. We will supervise the screening process, but Canada pays the head tax. Whatever happens there will be an open door policy for all minorities.

Susan and I have another daughter. Our twin girls are running around like the free spirits they are. That is another factor I have grown to appreciate here. A child is always treated with respect. Everyone feels the responsibility to see to the child's welfare. As such children often run off to explore at a young age. Because of technology, we can rapidly locate them, but still children can cover a lot of territory before we realize that they are missing. In that time, we don't feel that there is any purpose in worrying about them. Every compound has responsible people who will look out for the little ones. Our twins are often visiting down the corridor. We know our neighbours and they know our children. The older children, nine to eleven years old, are often paid to care for little ones, when they are not in school. They are learning the skills needed when they marry. The fears that pervades 'first world' societies are just not present here. This allows the children a longer leash to learn about their environment. We have made arrangement to join the passenger list of the new spacecraft, Gordon Singh. Three ships will sail out together and use a power sail to speed the flight to Venus. I have been brushing up on the knowledge base connected to space flight and Venus, the planet. It seems that if we stay long enough some day we might be able to live in protected cities on the surface. We leave behind a civilization to be proud of.

* * * * *

Well, I am glad that is over. Everything was done to make our two month journey comfortable. But I could not completely free myself of a claustrophobic feeling. The children had no problems and Susan spent much of her day working with the ships medical department. I talked to people, to gather stories, maintained my Journal, and studied astro-navigation. Yes, I am interested in the theory of navigation. I am too old to be a proper pilot. Still if there was an offer come in for a orbital transport pilot, I might consider the job.

I think this is a real test of how well my nervous system has been healed. I start an apprenticeship under a seventeen year old tug pilot next week. He has been working at his job for more than two years. We have settled into the Wheel Station 'Imagine'. Along with 20,000 others we smile at how well everything has turned out.

Susan has taken her place in the herbal medicine department of our only hospital. She will oversee the production of most of the medicines for all the stations about Venus. We have hired two young women to help us out with the children. Our third child, Joni, is six months old. Susan is now pregnant with our fourth child. I will have to talked to her about when she wants to stop.

I have arranged to talk with the heroes of our society. AMAN station will give me a place to stay while I do the interviews. Iscar, Will, Kevin, Gordon, Hortense, John, Avril and Allison for example.

Now I spend three days a week, flying between stations. I am learning real flight controls in Venus orbit. My teacher called me a natural. I told him I had never even had a drivers license on Earth. He just looked at me a little strange. He has never seen a car and certainly would not want to drive one. Two month of dual training and a month of solo made me a shuttle pilot. Susan is proud and a little worried." Your spatial perception and mathematical abilities have greatly improved. I would never have guessed that you wanted to do this," said Susan.

"No one is more surprises than me. It is certainly a big step from cleaning hospital rooms."

"Are you saying that you did not enjoy working with me?"

"Well you were very demanding. I should have charged you with physical abuse." I dragged her into the bedroom, while the children were playing in the courtyard. For a medical director, she should have been a little more careful. She was seven months pregnant before we found out that our child was really two more girl twins, Ella and Billy.

"I thought you were a little too big for one child." I commented at breakfast.

"I was just so busy. It did not occur to me to take time for the tests. It is alright. They will be born healthy and hail," she said. "The more the better is all I say. You feeling tired today?" "Not very tired. But I will take the day off and smell the roses."

We had our courtyard planted with many potted roses. The ones with thorns. The children learn quickly to keep their hands off. Any other kind of plant gets eaten or unplanted.

"Well, I am off for the shuttle now. I will see you about three," said I.

Today I took a group of Americans from AMO Station over to AMAN Station where the Venus council holds its meetings. They were doing their first inspection after their long journey from Earth. NASA representatives, diplomats from Washington and their families were here, by our leave, to see that the station was in good shape. They would soon be starting their negotiations with the Venus council, or at least with a committee set up by the council. Fred Hansen, there chief engineer from NASA, was riding up front with me in the copilots seat.

"Did you have a good trip from Earth?" I asked innocently.

"You know bloody well, the trip was a nightmare. That ship was tight, old and sailed with it's brakes on," said Fred.

"Could you not have come on a Lunar ship?" I asked.

"NASA wouldn't let us. I suggested it. Your council was going to give us free passage."

"Sounds like a good deal to me," I said.

"You don't really care much for us do you?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know how to respond. People are people. I like persons who make an effort to reach half way. Just treat me like an equal and not your idea of a taxi driver. I was on Luna when all this got started. I was still trying to get my act together. One day I'm living on the streets of Toronto. The next week I'm working in a clinic on the Moon. Now three years later I am jockeying a shuttle between space stations in orbit around Venus. Do you think I have time to think about who you are or if your feelings are hurt."

"You were a street person. How long have you had your license?" Fred asked. "Just a month. I like this job. Have not had an accident yet."

"Good God, help us all. They are trying to kill us." exclaimed Fred.

I thought about trying to look crazy. But I had a feeling he was already seeing me that way.

"Sit back and buckle your seat belts. We are about to dock." I phoned ahead and told Gordon how it had gone. He had a good laugh.

"Hold the shuttle for us. We should be returning with them in half an hour," said Gordon. They were back well before the two hours. Gordon Singh and the committee boarded the shuttle. Instead of Gordon sitting up front, his daughter Iscar approached. I had Lightfoot playing softly on the sound system. Gordon made a comment, to the Americans about how good a shuttle pilot I was.

"Can I sit down here?" she asked." Sure, just don't touch anything. I'm still a little green at this job. So it is not a good idea, to make me nervous." My hands were shaking as she sat down.

"Susan, you are Susan's husband?" she asked.

"She thinks so. You know her I guess." I responded

"I hope to get over for a visit, she is such a fine person."

"You are welcome any time."

"Thank you," she said.

"What is it with the Americans? I thought they were going to bite my head off," I asked. I had the port doors closed and was moving the shuttle into position for rocket fire.

She laughed. Bell's went off in my head. I almost failed to inject us into the right orbit.

"Are you alright? You don't look well." Iscar asked.

"I don't think I'm sick. What were you doing when you laughed?" She reached over and touched my shoulder. An electric shock seemed to pass between us.

"You mean you heard the message?" Iscar exclaimed. I was very alive and aware of movement around me.

"I had no idea you were receptive."

"Receptive to what?" I asked.

"We have been sending out waves of force to the Americans. Trying to soften them up. I am one of the transmitters."

"I don't know what that is. I love you, Iscar. You are inside me. I feel you, can hear your thoughts. You love me too. I can see that in your thoughts," I said in a panic.

"Just hold on, I will be back in a second." It seemed a long time she was gone aft. She was talking with her father. I heard every whispered word. Soon they both came back. Gordon sat beside me. Iscar stood behind him. I was busy about my duties.

"Please don't be embarrassed, by what is happening to you now. Are you Joined somehow to my daughter? We will talk more about it on the return trip."

"Papa, he is inside of me. He is such a gentle and beautiful man," Iscar said almost in despair.

"Is there any separation between you," Gordon asked his daughter. "Any private areas not exposed?"

"No, we are completely Joined. He is beginning to understand," said Iscar.

"We will talk about this after docking," Gordon concluded.

We docked with AMO Station (see Amo drawing) and the passengers all got out. I was to wait until the committee came back. I sat in one of the passenger seats and tried to relax. That was difficult when everything that was happening to Iscar was right inside my head. They returned without the Americans. Iscar sat beside me as I steered the craft away from the station port. This is the original station to orbit Venus. Gordon stood behind us and spoke as in casual conversation.

"You are Joined in a way we have never seen before."

"What do you mean by Joined? I can feel it, but I want it explained," I said.

"Think about people, as having each their own bubble surrounding them. Most people when they meet each other, touch their bubbles together. Very intimate people open a hole where their bubbles touch and share their atmosphere. In your case you have moved into Iscar's bubble and yours has disappeared," said Gordon.

"You are very welcome, Armann. But we don't know if this condition will ever change. It will require an adjustment for both of us," said Iscar.

"I guess I should welcome you to the family," said Gordon.

"I want you to come to my office tomorrow morning after your early run."

I went home later than usual that day. The children gathered around me Yan and Ting, Joni, Billy and Ella, and our boy Gould. I gave them all exaggerated hugs. Gould was just getting his sea legs. He was a year old.

"Who is your friend?" asked Yan.

I looked deep into deep brown eyes and they were as honest as the blazing Sun. "We will talk about my friend later. She is glad to become part of this family."

I talked quietly to Susan that night. She understood. At least she did not try to deny it.

"Gordon was always fooling around with things that he cannot control. Now this has happened," said Susan.

"It is not his fault." I tried to defend him

"And why not. It was he, who trained his daughters. Iscar opened you up and sucked you in."

"I will be talking to Gordon tomorrow."

We slept separately that night. It was just easier, that way.

"I have been going crazy this last few hours." said I, in Gordon's office. "Your situation has no documentation. It has happened before, but that is all we know. I don't know how to advice you."

"We could take it a little at a time," I said.

"I think we need a list of basic rules to make it bearable for both of you," said Gordon.

"Iscar thinks you make too many rules."

"Is she hearing everything we are saying?" asks Gordon.

"Yes. There is nothing I can do about it."

"Rule 1: You must not see each other physically.

"Rule 2: You must maintain control over your bodies. Not let the other take control.

"Rule 3: For safety sake you should live on the same station."

"You mean if one of us has an accident the other can help?"

"Something like that. I don't know what would happen if one dies. How is Iscar on this?"

"Not happy, but she does understand."

"This next item is not a rule but a recommendation. I suggest you do not talk to anyone but your wife about this, and ask her to talk to no one. It might even turn out to be useful that no one knows," said Gordon. "Susan must understand the seriousness of your situation."

Life is not simple any more. Iscar is a complex character. She has a good sense of humour too. Thank God for that. I have to be careful about laughing out in public. I asked her about why she has never married. "I don't know. No one ever grabbed me until you came."

"And then I would not leave." It wasn't long before Susan asked me, if Iscar was there. We were right in the thick of it.

"Yes, there are no walls between us."

"Iscar, are you feeling everything that Armann is."

"She says she is," I answered. "And yes, she is enjoying it."

Iscar and I continued at a heightened pace. We found a balance. I could enjoy Susan for myself and I could enjoy Iscar's pleasure as well. I just called Iscar a friend when the children asked about her. I sometimes talked to the children for Iscar's sake, asked them questions that Armann would not ask. I got answers and reactions that I would never have seen otherwise and understood and loved my children better. I did one thing, to maintain some independence. I kept up my weekly journal. There were still about 30,000 hits a day on the Earth side server. It seemed that people were interested in my adventures. I often told the stories of people who sat in my copilot's seat. I mentioned nothing about the Joining event. People complimented me by email. They were intrigued at my sudden grasp of the technologies of communications and computer systems. If I needed an explanation about some subject, about which I knew nothing, Iscar was always there. She is my best love. I can not deny it. In my heart, she is my heart. Gordon was again on the shuttle, with a group traveling to AMO Station. He sat up front.

"The Americans are going to move into the station. I am telling you, so Iscar will also hear. I wish to appoint her as commander of AMO Station," said Gordon.

"She just collapsed on the office floor."

"Is she alright?" he asked. "I think so. She is just out cold."

A little peace of mind. She was always the trouble maker. Her sister Claire, is more easy going.

"She loves you very much and her sister, she is very proud but envious of her."

"Well now she has done something her sister will never do," said Gordon. "She has settled down these last two months. She has learned a lot from you. Taken your Earth experiences to heart. I don't think there are any other young people, who now understand the reasons for Holmstead the way Iscar does. She could be following in the footsteps of her namesake."

"She has taken my street experience to heart. Iscar has pried out many of the traumatic experiences that I had chosen to forget. She will not forget what was done to us."

"I would not put this responsibility on her shoulders, if I did not know she could carry it off." said Gordon speaking of the AMO. "You are her balance. You compliment each other very well. Is she still out?"

"Like a light. Iscar probably needs the rest. Do you think, I should phone and get someone to revive her."

"No. Please leave her. It has been a rough two months. I want to find a husband for her. She would be very angry, if she knew I am talking about this. She needs her own family life."

Said I. "She is waking up."

"Hello Iscar. How do you feel," asked Gordon.

"I can't repeat what she is saying," I said.

"You want the job or should I offer it to your sister?" her father asked.

"She wants it. And she wants you to be more careful the next time. She is suspicious of what we were talking about."

"So you can't read each others memories."

"Only if we are thinking about them," I said.

* * *

So now I am Space Shuttle pilot and co-commander to AMO Station. Iscar has me listen in on all meetings and asks my advice. My natural suspicion is a balance to her more normal innocent responses. I don't always wait for her to ask me, when I see her falling into a trap. My shuttle job is very routine and I haven't had any further difficulties, controlling my flights. I can pass on information. If someone I am talking to, is opening up in my copilot seat, telling me stuff that they really should be mum about, Iscar has direct access to it. Very handy for a station commander.

One young fellow named Teddy Sawyer likes to sit up front with me. His father is chief diplomat from Washington, I guess the closest thing would be consul. Teddy's job has been to visit all the stations and consult with engineers and committee people in charge of the administration of the different stations. He is an apprentice, preparing to follow in his father's footsteps. But he does not have the edge to deal with the All American side of his job. We have become quite chummy over the last few months. He is roughly good looking, tall, lanky and a little awkward. But that is often so with 19 year olds. His great grandfather was a Hugo award winner at the turn of the century. A sci-fi writer. Iscar says he was a good story teller. I haven't read much sci-fi, spending most of my time on Earth history. Teddy makes many trips with me. He often talks about people that I know by site. Important people that could make a difference in Luna \ Earth relations.

"I don't understand your government. There is no campaigning, no parties and no one man in charge. How can you make that work?" he asked.

"It does seem to work."

"Yes, but for how long? How long before someone starts a party or gathers people together to campaign for someone?"

"Oh, it has been done. We just don't consider people adequate to the job, if they break the rules to get on the Council. They don't get in. The council can also have them removed for legal reasons. Secret ballot. All votes are secret. And party politics is divisive," I explained.

"I have heard all that before," said Teddy.

"Think that we want to be like the American system? Not a chance! Our history, as short as it is, has proven that this system works. We are also not drowning in laws." I was drawing on advice from Iscar as we talked. Teddy was taking an interest in a pretty young nurse, sitting in a forward seat. Her very long legs and winning smile were distracting him.

"You like that do you?"

"She has been coming on to me most of the trip. "

"Have you ever met the commander on AMO?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Iscar Singh? Just to see her. My father has taken me to a couple of meeting with her." the boy commented.

"She sits in your seat quite often." I lied to him, because she has always avoided taking my shuttle. But in another way I spoke the truth.

"She is really something. Kind of young for such a big station." Stated Teddy "She is very good at her job. Dad has said more than once, how she understands things that she could not understand. "

"She is the same age as you. She told me she likes you." I had Teddy squirming beside me and Iscar having a tantrum in my head.

"She is a better piece than that nurse," said Teddy." If I was single, I would grab her just like that." I snapped my fingers loudly.

"She is not married?" he asked.

"Does not even have a boyfriend."

"Dad would be furious with me, if I dated her."

"Just think, what having the commander as a wife would mean. Your father might grow to like the idea."

Iscar was jumping and screaming at me. I was starting to get a headache so she had to stop.

"She is the finest young woman I know and you would be foolish to ignore her."

"You are really good friends?" he asked.

"She sits right there and talks to me, just as you do. She tells me things that her twin sister doesn't know. So when I say, she likes you, I hope you believe me. If she asks about you, what should I tell her?"

"God, I don't know. You are right. She really turns me on. But I am in the diplomatic service and I just can't forget that."

"She is a lonely person. Never has boyfriends. People are a little afraid of her, and her powerful father."

We talked on other occasions. He is a very shy fellow, when it comes to women. And he was utterly dedicated to learning his job.

"I admire your people, Armann."

"What do you mean by my people? The natives of Canada? The street people of Toronto?"

"You know what I mean. The Lunar Colony."

"Who's colony is it?"

"Ok, The Nation of Luna and the colony of Venus Ring," Teddy conceded.

"You know I have only been here for four years. I am thirty five years old. It has only been a small but significant part of my life."

"As I was saying, I admire the Lunar government achievements."

"We know how the Earth has struggled," I explained. "And how impossible it seems to be, to improve the system for the good of all citizens. We have followed the Baha'i model. It has works for us."

"Yes, I admire the fact that you all believe it works well. But isn't it always the same people running things. Don't they control the process and not the people," he asked.

"We give the people a democratic chance to change council membership. So far the people controlling things have done an excellent job. If they prove unsuitable or others are better qualified, then they will be replaced." He didn't seem convinced.

"You understand our plurality voting system?"

"Yes, Holmstead 101. I even know your meetings start with prayers and you meditate during a decision to find the true solution."

"And is there something wrong with that?"

"Do you really do that or is it just propaganda?" Teddy asked.

"I have been on a couple of compound assemblies. We practice these methods," I stated.

Teddy said. "Dad says you are all just a bunch of goody goodies."

"What do you think?"

"You are just people. Like any other people. You have a great advantage though. You don't spend much time infighting."

"It is not part of our history and we don't want it to be. Everyone deserves respect," I quoted.

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

"You all learn that, I know. I guess we have made a few errors as a nation."

"Your government has made a science of keeping the truth from its citizens. I exaggerate not at all," I explained.

"I would not go that far. "

"You know what people have done when not happy with the state of their government. We in Canada are built on those immigrant peoples who fled oppressive nations."

"Yes, they left to Canada, USA, and Australia."

"Well, you are welcome to join us. We have thousands of Americans."

"Yes, Dad has a list on file, of every American that emigrated," said Teddy.

"That is their right. Do you want article 13 quoted."

"Dad would not like it."

"She is waiting for your call. She even pulled your file the other day."

Teddy shift nervously in his seat.

"I always intended to call on her, but something stops me."

"Fear. Be brave young man. This is your big test, as a man. If you can't do this, will you be able to achieve success in other fields."

I was pressing him now.

"No, Dad is my big test."

"You can go a lot further with us, than in American diplomacy."

"That was a low blow. You will some day find out who you are dealing with, and you will come and apologize," said Teddy.

Teddy sat through many more trips at my side. I know he was trying to figure out, who I really was. I would sometimes drop information to him, that I should have no knowledge of. Iscar was finding it harder and harder to keep anything from me. She was becoming me and I was becoming her. Not an unpleasant experience. I quite liked it when she and her sister got together. It took Claire a while, to get over me being present. Claire also noticed how much her sister had changed, more serious, more stubborn when confronted with a problem to solve.

"He has this great reservoir of experience. He has read about many eras of Earth history and knows how to interpret events, in light of our own society," said Iscar one time.

"He has aged you a lot."

"He gives all the time. He is always ready to help."

"Sounds better than any marriage. You are the lucky one."

"I am the lucky two. I will never be one again," said Iscar.

---

Gordon is up front talking with me today.

"Its funny, but I don't see Iscar much anymore. If I need personal contact you are always there."

"We have lost most of our individuality. I am her. But there are two of us. And we are the same person with different bodies. It is hard to describe. I am not doing a good job."

"How is the research going?" I asked him.

"You two are still the only case we have. We were wondering if Venus might be causing it. Or maybe the microbes from Luna's water."

"I think it is a lot easier for us now. You were right to discourage us from meeting. We can still have the illusion that we are different people."

"Congratulations on the boy."

"We both are happy about it. But Susan says this is the last."

"My wife wants to quit too. I suppose it is wise." His wife was one year younger than mine.

"How is Avril?"

"She sends her love." " How is the matchmaking going?" Gordon asked.

"They are both hot for each other, but nothing seems to be happening."

"You think they need a push?"

"Definitely, but Iscar says no."

****************

A big party was held to make all the new settlers welcome. Thousands have come in the last few weeks to settle into the 'Wisdom' Station. It was held in AMAN Station and was a major logistical job to get everyone there and back safely.

All the commanders were to attend and most of their support crew.

Teddy saw me standing with Susan and a group of the younger Americans, I had grown to know many on the shuttle flights. I excused myself and moved across to intercept him. I warned Iscar to be ready in an adjoining room.

"She is here. I am going to introduce you." I did not give him any time to complain. Grabbing his arm, I led him out to where she waited, standing in a long low cut black dress. She looked good enough to eat.

I spoke very clearly to Iscar, holding my feeling in check.

"Iscar, have you not met Teddy Sawyer. You know his father the consul."

"Yes of course. I was to drop in some time. What have you been up to?" asked Iscar.

I disappeared. I wanted to find that gooseberry pie I noticed earlier. Oh, and a tall cool lime juice.

"I was afraid to visit," said Teddy. I would witness everything inside my head.

"Well at least you are honest. I did know you were afraid. Armann kept me informed."

"Oh, I see. He is your personal spy," Teddy said.

"Will you never learn man. You are Armann's friend and that makes you my friend."

"I still don't understand."

"Come with me," she grabbed his hand and led him out into a corridor, up an elevator and out into a small park. "Sit down here beside me. If we are going to get married then there is much we have to talk about."

"But, I have not asked you to marry me."

"You don't want to? After all this, you would back out," said Iscar. I was busy telling her to go easy. But I was also enjoying every minute.

"Well yes, I want to, but . . . You know I am crazy about you," said Teddy.

"Show me how you feel. There has been too much talk."

"It is all so sudden."

Iscar sat exhausted on the park bench, shoulders sagging. She laid her head back.

"You are a beautiful woman. But I need to get to know you better."

"You know me well enough. I know you well enough. We have talked a hundred times," she still had her eyes closed.

Teddy thought her the most beautiful of visions.

"I don't understand. Why do you say that." he was puzzled.

"I am not doing this very well. Just kiss me."

He moved closer to her and kissed her slightly open lips. She responded by rapping her arms around him. He moved away a bit.

"You feel a little better now?" she asked.

"Yes, you are wonderful." Iscar still had her head back and eyes closed.

"I like you too. There is something I have to tell you."

"Why do I get this sinking feeling?"

"Good, you have a sense of humour. You know that Armann and I are friends?"

"Yes, I understand. It is alright if you have slept together."

"Young man," she lifted her head and looked at him. "I am a virgin. I have not slept with anyone."

"Then I really don't understand. You are driving me crazy."

"Just be patient. Everything will come clear in time."

Iscar pulled him towards her and kissed him well and thorough.

"Be brave young man, and tell me who I remind you of. Someone you know very well."

"Armann, but that is impossible. Is he a relative?"

"You know every piece of public knowledge about me. Armann is in me, and I am in him."

"I don't know what to say."

"Just listen. Armann and I met once. The first time we met. There was some kind of mental accident. We share two bodies but we are just one person. It has been more than a year now."

"So everything I have been saying to him on those many shuttle flights . . .?"

"I heard every word. He set me up with you. At first I complained. I was a very private person."

"But I grew on you." They were sitting very close, enjoying the anticipation of pleasure.

"Well are you going to ask me?" she blurted.

"God, I do want you."

"You sure do. Is Dad going to be unhappy?"

"He will agree or I will have him sent home. I have connections."

"Teddy, baby. You forgot something."

"Oh. Will you marry me?"

"I might just do that. I like your spirit," said Iscar Singh.

Well, I am glad that is over. Iscar and Teddy got married about two weeks after their meeting at the party. I was a little apprehensive about living through there honeymoon. It would be particularly difficult when I was home. Iscar and I had to work out a schedule. I wasn't going to put my life on hold while they had all the fun. I had forgotten just how active a young couple could be.

Iscar and I could now meet comfortably in public. She can sit beside me on the shuttle without any nervousness.

It is a strange feeling, looking at a beautiful young pregnant woman, and see yourself. Knowing that this is the real you.

"He is a good man," she said.

"Yes I know." We laughed at the incongruity of our situation.

I looked down at her stomach. "He kicks like a boy," I said.

"I am naming him after you. Arthur Armann, if you don't mind."

"Thank you very much for the compliment," I said.

"What are you going to do during the birth?"

"I would like to be nearby."

It was less than two month, and we were waiting in a hospital room while Iscar and Teddy were with the midwife.

Feb 5th 2078.

Susan and Claire were keeping me company. Gordon and Avril were out pacing the halls.

"Thank God, it is not twins," I said.

"I am still not used to the fact that you are feeling her every pain," said Claire.

"Iscar says to believe it. There is nothing we don't share."

"I could not be with her. The blood would be too much," said Claire.

"So I am your substitute."

I felt some awful pains go through my innards.

"Iscar I love you." I said in a last gasp. "Press down and get this over with."

I must have lost consciousness.

I woke in a bed, a private room in the hospital. Susan was sitting by me.

"How is it going Armann? Iscar has a little boy. She is with him right now."

"How long was I out?" Claire came in the room.

I felt very much my self, but something was different. Susan was holding something back.

"You have been sleeping about a day. We thought it best not to wake you."

"That long? Can I go and see her?" I asked. I knew what was wrong but did not want to name it yet.

"Let me help you up," said Susan. When I was on my feet Claire grabbed me firm on the other side and they both led me to the recovery room to see Iscar.

Iscar was sitting in an armchair holding little Arthur Armann. She looked up at me and smiled.

"So it is over," she said with a finality in her voice.

"I guess it is."

"I was pretty sure, even though you were unconscious. Now I am certain."

I bent down and kissed the babies head. Then I kissed Iscar. "I would do it all again, if I knew it was with you." I said into her ear.

I saw Gordon at the door. "The Joining is over. You can have your daughter back."

"I don't feel as if we left each other. It feels more like we divided into identical cells. " said Iscar.

"Yes, I guess we got born somehow, just like little Armann," I said.

I was talking to my eldest today. Ting knows about the change in me. That I have only one body but still have two people inside me. Perhaps most people are born this way and I and Iscar had some birth defect that gave us only one person. I suggested this to Gordon once. He said it needed more work and it still might be a genetic adaptation. I thought again of my children. Not much was going to happen when they are so young.

I could not be more wrong.

I have changed jobs. There has been a great demand for transport pilots. Even though I am over forty I thought to give it a try. They needed pilots to fly small shuttles to the surface, larger passenger/cargo vessels and the largest freight ships.

Iscar, the one in me, has been a great help. She is a smart young thing. Can do anything she sets her mind to. I surprises the chief flight trainer.

In the time it takes persons to pass one set of tests, I passed three. They are going to put me on the passenger run. This will take more time away from my family. Two days on. Three days off. But the shuttle is boring Iscar. I have to keep her happy.

I talked to Gordon one time about my new condition. "You don't worry that some day she will leave you?" he asked.

"We have been brought together by love. I know that now. We help each other, watch out for each other's happiness," I explained.

"You know, my Iscar is a little jealous of you. She wants to be down with the landing ships like you are," said Gordon.

"She is not a natural mother like some. She needs to get out more. Away from all the committee work."

"The Armann part, does most of the child care. While this is happening, she doesn't know what to do," said Gordon.

"Maybe it is time for Teddy to take his turn at Commander. He has been training for the job for years."

"We would have to get him to become a Luna citizen."

"You have done well with your combined characteristics. The Joining does seem to give you an advantage," said Gordon.

"Iscar will be fine too, if she is not expected to be just a home mom," I concluded.

My daughter, Ting, is in her seventh year. Today she brought a friend home from school. A boy three years her senior. His name is Johann Strong. He is quiet, observant, a short blond stout fellow. They stood there in the courtyard waiting for me to notice them. Susan nodded for me to turn around from the dinner table.

I knew right away. When I saw them standing there so quiet, so close together. There faces were a little confused, but they waited my judgement.

"Come here Ting." I held her hand. "You can tell me. I will understand."

"Papa, it happened. I hurt my knee in the school hallway. Johann was there to help me. I was so sad," she explained.

Susan suddenly realized what was happening. I gave her a sign to keep quiet.

"Johann, come over here. You are Ting's friend? You would do nothing to hurt her?"

Tears were running down his face. "He is a good friend, Papa. He is crying because he is happy."

"Then that is all that really matters. You can play for a while and I will talk to your mother," I said.

I called them over later after making calls to Gordon and Iscar. Susan called the boy's parents to say he was with his new friend, for the afternoon.

"I think we have to take this slowly, Susan. The children won't be able to keep this secret the way we did. Already Yan knows about it and she is bound to cause trouble. You know how jealous she gets with Ting," I explained.

"You are sure about the children? They are Joined?"

"Oh, yes. But we will know for sure in a couple of days. The problems they will have to sort out themselves. Their lives are now changed forever," I said.

After the adults had time to consult and Iscar had arrived, I called the two children over and asked them to sit down. They sat very close, arm in arm. Iscar could hardly contain her feelings.

I first talked to Johann. "Please describe how you feel."

Susan brought in some hot chocolate and cookies.

"She is inside with me. She can not leave."

"And?"

"She told me about you. She said it was Joining. We are friends now."

"And?"

"She keeps telling me to be more brave. Mama is like that too. I am not brave, but Ting is." Johann said.

"He wants to run away. It is only me keeping him here," said Ting.

"I am going to take him home now, is that alright with you?" I asked Ting.

"His parents will be angry with him. He thinks they will," said Ting.

"We will not say anything about what happened right now. We have to first see, how it goes in the next few days. Can you just say, that Ting has become your friend?" I asked Johann.

"Sure, I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

"This Joining is a very good thing. You are a lucky two." Iscar was letting me do the talking

Johann laughed.

"I am a lucky two. We are a lucky two." He was almost singing it.

I led him out of the courtyard. Ting waved good-bye.

"Did you know each other before today?" I asked him as we walked through the corridors.

"No, I just came here, with my parents, on a ship from Mars. Today was my first day in the new school." He explained.

"What were you thinking, when you saw Ting?" I asked.

"She was very unhappy, just come from the principle's office. She talked back to the teacher."

"So she didn't hurt her knee? I want you to tell me the truth. Don't listen to Ting right now."

"She is angry with me."

"Ting, I will deal with you later, please leave him alone," I said.

"She is quiet now. No she did not hurt her knee. She was sitting out in the hall crying. I was looking for my next class. I sat down next to her. She cuddled up close and then she was inside." The boy was overcome with emotion.

I held his hand as we walked. "It was such a long trip. Not very many other children to play with. They did not want to play with me. I missed my friends on Mars."

"And now you have a friend." He just continued to cry softly.

"You better cheer up, we are getting near your compound. Go to school tomorrow, as if nothing has happened. You can come over to our place anytime you wish. We can talk later." He gave me a hug and ran in to his family. I left before meeting them.

That evening Gordon and Iscar came over.

Gordon said. "I think it is not possible to keep them apart. They are in the same school. They will just have to learn how to manage it."

"But they will be going through puberty together. This is no easy matter," said Susan.

"I think it is like any other type of development, you just take it one stage at a time," said I.

"You mean you reach a point where there is no logical way to solve the problem and you take a leap and the solution stands in front of you," said Iscar.

"Has Ting got her feet firmly planted," asked Gordon.

"She is an excellent student, has always liked school. She is a motherly figure to her friends," said Susan.

"Does she have tantrums or stubborn streaks?"

"No, that would be Yan, her twin sister," said Susan.

"Yan is going to be jealous of Ting and her Joining?" asked Gordon. He was writing everything down.

"It is just about guaranteed," said Susan.

"How are your other children. They comfortable with it."

"Oh, they think they are just getting a big brother," Susan said.

"You can see now that this trait is passing through your family. Ting won't be the last," said Gordon. "Keep me informed."

A week has passed.

Ting asked me. "Papa why am I the first." I knew she meant the first of my children.

"We can not be sure that this will happen again. How are you doing?"

"Fine, I am like you now. A Lucky Two."

It was Susan who brought it up. We were having an afternoon nap.

"Some of the new people are having difficulties. They are not long from Earth and some are severely disturbed. Our people have not sensitive enough to their feeling, for what is going on back there on the home planet. The most of us have not been back in twenty years."

"They could just read my Online Journal." Then I realized that I haven't done any interviews for the Journal in many years. "I suppose I'm not much in touch myself."

"Gordon was saying we need someone to go back and see Canada again. Make a report to the council. I did not volunteer you, but I knew what they were thinking."

"I suppose being exposed to Earth again would give me fresh insight, in the interview side of things. But I am sure that all the information we need is right here. . . I would not want to go alone," I finally stated.

"I don't want you to go with Iscar. You spend too much time with her as it is. You can take one of the girls, Yan needs to get away," said Susan.

"Yes. I will take Yan, but I need another adult."

"The council has already chosen a fellow, named John Smith, a pilot and a doctor. You will like him. He wants you to be in charge."

So I went. I did not want to leave my family and friends. Earth was not beckoning to me. Yan was quite excited and good about everything. Finally she had something that was all hers. I met a couple of times with John on the Imagine Station. I knew him but not well. I was going to miss Iscar. Five months away from my life on Venus Ring.

John was captain on our ship to Luna. He also was ships doctor to the small number of passengers. Mostly the ship carried cargo. Not too many people needed to move back to Luna.

Yan spent the five weeks with the twenty children on board. They all tried hard to be friends because they knew, how much they needed each other, to escape boredom. Of course they spent hours each day, with there school studies.

I wrote new chapters in my journal and began a project I had long been thinking about.

On Luna, we had three days before the shuttle to SpacePort could go. I showed Yan around, especially in the Coal and Spice Caverns. She enjoyed all the novelty. Met some children her age.

The taxi waited for us outside the SpacePort terminal. We were met exiting the shuttleport and lead personally to our car. Our driver, Stanford George greeted us. He addressed us with real respect.

"How long will you be with us, Stanford?" I asked.

"As long as you need me. I will drive you anywhere in the country you want to go. The car has a speed of 300 km an hour, turbo-electric drive. It adjusts for emergency sleepovers, if we get stuck somewhere with inadequate quarters."

"I think this will be just fine," said John. "You got any long cool drinks in there?"

"Whatever you like, it is in the fridge. The weather is a little warm for May," said Stanford. The young lady can ride up with me if she wants. I also have a good supply of refreshments." He added.

Yan went for that. Anything to get away from her father for a while.

In the car we found many interesting comforts. The best was the egg salad sandwiches. It had been a long time. Yan was surprises and a little freaked, eating something from an animal.

We will be visiting many small native communities. First Melford, then Inner Saskatoon. On to Fort Qu'Appelle.

At Qu'Appelle, the people spoke of the wonderful life they wanted for their children. How the children spent most of their energies just guessing where the next blow would come from. Will it be the government or private industry. Will one of their own crack, causing loss and chaos in the neighbourhood. The general population was already filled with addicts. Gambling, alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine and speed, all were heavily taxed. This is how the government supports its elite businesses. Luxury administrative offices in the heart of the most expensive cities. Income taxes are now a small part of government income.

If a mother, living alone, raising her three young children, looses it one day. They send a young RCMP officer, with a handgun, to blow her away. It is all done in front of the children. She is to blame. The officer is moved quietly, to another town.

"Do you think you might not do better under a new government in another place. It will not be long before Venus surface will be accepting whole tribes living within the Lunar administrative system," I explained.

"You are just another group trying to boss us about," said an old woman in a wheelchair.

"You will be governing yourselves, voting for your own officers. It certainly beats the chaos here. There are many more native people living in space, than there are in Canada. They are not coming back because to them, this is hell to their heaven. I speak to you as a street person, from Toronto."

Someone laughed. "They don't have street people in Toronto. They are all shipped to camps or disappear."

"I did not realized that things have changed so much. This is my friend John Smith, he has no memory of Earth, has lived on Luna and Venus Ring all his life. His parents are native. They made sure, he had a fighting chance, by moving to Luna in the fifties. He became a famous ships captain during the War and later went on into General Practice as a doctor. This is what your children have to look forward to. His wife, a native, is commander of the AMO Orbital Station."

"These are just fairy stories." Yelled the old woman.

I was about to leave, Yan wide eyed at my side. "What is wrong with these people, Papa?" She asked.

A young female voice spoke up in the audience. " Do you not see what he offers us. A miracle. Every year we receive them, hear them speak, and let them leave. They never insist on our co-operation. They receive nothing from us but rejection. These people have left their homes to come and talk to us, I think they come to help us. They are not the government. Perhaps the next reserve will accept their message, and quietly disappear into space. Look at Rainy River. They have sent back reports from Luna, all positive. It can't be a trick. We are letting our depressed mood blind our judgement. I personal intend to go to SpacePort. There is no future here for me."

It was a good experience for Yan. I really did not do much. Our space society spoke volumes. It was just necessary to give the message a personal touch. Yan was asked a lot of personal questions. She knew how to avoid the Joining questions. She spoke honestly, without guile. Obviously a person, who knew nothing of Earth. A person who had no reason to feel cowed or protective.

The level of her education surprises everyone. I had always taken it for granted. She and Ting had started reading adult text books by the time they were five. Most infants on Luna and Venus were trained with flash cards and electronic methods to recognize objects, concepts and words. Reading is normal at five years. Intelligence stays high, as education demands the best from its pupils. That she was already trained, at ten, to supervise sports activities, like Hopball and swimming, just added to their surprize.

I left information with people who needed it and we stayed the night in the guest rooms.

Gimli, Flin Flon, Lake-of-the-Woods, Thunder Bay. So many places.

John and I had some good talks on our journey. About his times during the War, it gave me material for the histories I was collecting. John found great need for his services as a doctor. We had to order a complete supply of medicines from the SpacePort. John was not too familiar with synthetic products. He was forced to take people for walks, and show them the plants and explain what they could use them for. Yan quickly learned the reality of Canadian civilization. She understood, that economic safety and social opportunity, were not available to at least 50% of Canada's citizens.

She saw the homeless in Thunder Bay and Sudbury. Those that would not dare to go to Ottawa or Toronto. Disease and poverty are rampant.

"Why do they lock up most of their towns."

"That started about a century ago. People moved out, from the large cities and locked out the local towns people. They could not trust, the honest people about them. They had never known how to trust," I said.

"Nothing makes any sense, Papa."

"Now you understand the problem. Many people have converged on Canada and many have vested interests. Survival of the most ruthless. They have become very expert at making it look like they are doing you a favour," I said.

"But what about their own children. Don't they know that they are destroying the world for their children."

"They certainly would all live richer lives on Luna." John replied.

"How will you choose people for Luna?" she asked.

"There is a town called Madoc, North of Kingston. They have a camp of over 50,000 blacks from Detroit."

"That city, with the civil war?" she asked.

"Yah, They burned most of the place down. Then the police shut the roads so those people could not enter any of the other cities. Canada took in 200,000 refugees," I explained.

"We are also going to locate other camps where the homeless have been sent. Take the people off their hands. The problem might be, that these camps have become an industry like prisons and mental institutions. Small towns have become very dependant on them."

My feelings are like raw nerves. By living away from the everyday life of Earth, I have become more sensitive to the inhumanity.

I inquired, while we were in Ottawa, about the number of people leaving Canada for Luna. This resulted in a lot of paperwork and running from department to department. Finally the official count came back as 149,000. I knew that the correct number was 628,000. Ottawa knew this also. We had given them figures. Names are also provided to Canada, but not until the person has been safely off planet for ten years. We also inform them of deaths, because they are still officially Canadians.

I, Armann Redcloud, was not reported as leaving Canada. It was years later, that I asked to be officially listed. I am proud to be a member of Venus Ring. Government people must also know about my weekly journal. They have shut me down countless times. But they can't shut down the Internet. Luna and Mars and Jupiter and Venus Ring are all part of this one system. We have the best material, we get the most hits. Governments, research people use the information we provide. Our sports events are famous around the world. I have my websites, mirrors, all over.

During the years of immigration, spies have found there way to Luna and Venus Ring. We know who most of these people are. I suspect they are only playing at the spy game. There is no incentive for them to return to Earth.

We worked our way through small towns, reserves and villages until we approached Madoc.

***************

"We have come to conduct an inspection. My name is Armann Redcloud, my daughter Yan and my colege Dr. John Smith." I said as we stood by the smaller gate to the Detention Camp.

"Please come in. You are expected." The young chinese guard opened the gate with card and iris scans to let us in. We followed our man through the camp to the Administrative office. We passed many large bunkhouses made of some cardboard material.

"Never expected to see you again. " said the familiar voice of Bones Peterson. He had once been a street person, an organizer, who did much to fight for peoples rights and saved many lives with his knowledge of the Constitution and human rights.

"Bones, how did you manage to get this job? Thought you would still be out there fighting for the street people."

"There are no street people, they are all in camps now. This is where the fight is. I don't think anyone else wanted this job. No high profile, low pay, apartment on campus." He raised his hands and shrugged his large shoulders.

"What is the deal here?" I asked. He lead us into a very small office with old computer equipment and no air conditioning.

"We have to get these poor retches out of here. The money is being pulled. They intend to block all news reports. They will be moved and dumped into Vermont, where they will be treated as criminals," Bones explained.

"What are the numbers?" John asked.

"Officially there are 55,000 but that was last month. Another camp has been dumped on us since then. We are now 89,000. As I said we are crowded and broke."

"John will supply what you need in that department. We will order buses from Montreal and Toronto to take them off your hands. I must have time to talk to them. They will be very suspicious of us. John is a doctor, he will need your medical staff's help to inspect people before the long journey," I said.

"Yes, consider it done. We only have three nurses. The doctor stopped coming months ago."

"That will have to do," said Dr. John Smith. We all spent the next five days in the sweltering heat, talking to the individuals and families. They were very depressed and there was not much fight left in them. They did not believe me, when I stated the place, that they would be going to. It was only when Yan was able to talk to the children, that we made any headway. I explained what their choices were. Not many chose to be dumped in Vermont. It is mostly gated communities.

Not all bus companies were happy to provide their best superbuses for refugees. We had to provide insurance money to almost the cost of the buses. But our financial pockets are very deep. We do not let on how rich by Earth standards, Luna and Venus Ring are. We own indirectly many influential companies in Europe and the Americas.

John checked the health of these disposable people. Bones had done his best to keep them well fed. Efforts were made to locate relatives in other camps. The other camps were glad to transfer residents to Madoc. It was eight days before the last bus arrived. Superbuses can reach SpacePort in two days, so after five days they can return and we use the same buses a second time.

Soon we were on the road, in our limo again, heading for New Brunswick.

Edmundston, Rimouski, Fredericton, Moncton, and villages of French speaking natives, where I needed a translator. On to Nova Scotia. In the town of Truro, we found a very large woman's prison. They, the women, we bought them, to send them to SpacePort. They told us of a large camp three km out of town. There were 14,000 people from Belarus. Came over during their civil war twenty five years ago. The town depends on income for services they provide to the camp, to survive. Both the prison and the camp have continued to exist, because of funds from the federal government.

We gave the town, a take it or leave it offer. A large sum of money paid straight into town accounts, or a publicity campaign against them, telling of their dependence on other's suffering.

At this point we wanted to continue into the States and out around the world, trying to free all suffering peoples. But our policy was to stay within Canada and deal with minorities.

So we turned around and started back, catching the spots we had missed on the way East. I also had to keep reminding myself, why I was making this trip. I discussed with John how he felt, and I always talked with Yan. It was very revealing listening to her unconditioned opinions.

During the trip, John carried a hidden camera to record meetings and interviews. Yan often wore a mike, that transmitted back to our car equipment, when she talked to children about their lives here. I intend to destroy these records after my report was finished. The recordings will never reach Venus Ring.

We stopped in Ipperwash, now a strong native region. This is the home of Stanford's parents and cousins. Many non-native people from the region came to our meetings. They all talked of the difficulties of farming and making any kind of a living. "We could be arrested for growing certain types of vegetables, even if it was for our own use. We are not allowed to grow organically, even though government studies show it is just as economical and certainly healthier than the traditional methods," said an outspoken farm woman.

I was getting more depressed by the minute. My feelings had to be locked away, and not brought out for the rest of the journey. Yan started to avoid me. John spoke more to Stanford and Yan, now that I had regressed into a mental corner. I began to speak to the people of the richness of Luna and Venus Ring. Of the possibilities for the future. I was now sounding more like the promotion people, that we were trying to discredit.

My reports back to Luna and Venus Ring got moodier and more oppressive. I hoped that I would do nothing rash before leaving SpacePort. All our endeavours depended on a low profile.

We were back on safe ground but there was talk here about an imminent attack from American forces. This area was in many ways international property and not under the protection of the Canadian government. Even with Luna's participation in the World Council, SpacePort was not officially Luna property.

There was even talk of halting flights out, until the political atmosphere improved.

For years the base has been fitted with some of the best safety devices, to guard against false entry or attempted sabotage. I didn't know what they had prepared in case of direct attack from the air.

What happened next was a bit of a surprise to everyone. Seventy-five missiles were fired from South Dakota. They exploded just on entering Saskatchewan, South of the border. All life within a thirty km of each missile was wiped. This included small towns and villages, farms, wildlife, ants and vegetation. More damage was done South of the border, because more people lived there. No buildings or machinery were damaged.

Estimates were 235,000 persons dead. That the missiles were headed for SpacePort was never officially stated. The papers went along with official explanations. It was implied that Luna had some blame. But nothing could be admitted, without saying that an attempt at destroying SpacePort had failed miserably? Many of the people who survived the border explosions came running to us.

It also turned out, but was never stated, that many weapons had blown without being fired. Just preparing them to fire, caused them to explode. This destroyed much of the Northern defenses of the USA across five states. Luna never said peep. Venus Ring admitted nothing. What was true was that many circuits installed, to maintain the missile program, were really copies of Luna's patented circuits. These circuits had built-in self-destruct mechanisms. It would take a decade, for the USA to replace all their equipment. Many satellites had to be removed or replaced. This forced some delays in their efforts to develop their Mars and outer planet programs.

If they had only bought our circuits, on the open market. It would have allowed them a competitive chance. What would be their next step? I was not going to wait around and see. We took the next available shuttle out and were soon on route to Luna and Venus Ring.

Latter we received word of 145,000 new immigrants to Luna. Many not able to speak English. I expected within months we would again be seeing familiar faces from Canada. Farmers who had a place to do the work they were good at and had never been paid properly to do. Belarus craftsmen ready to pass on their skills in woodworking and decorative architecture. Native youth eager to play a valuable part in building a worthwhile society.

---

I have watch each of my children, in turn, become Joined. All except Yan. She has made our days miserable. We try to teach her that happiness is found in being happy. Jealousy will burn up your insides, make you sick, when you should be healthy and whole. "Your time is not now, Yan, it will come in it's own time, which is not set by us."

Yan and Ting are now sixteen years and have been thinking much of marriage.

I am keeping a close eye on Iscar's four children. The oldest is a boy of six, Arthur Armann, then twin girls and another baby girl.

Teddy is now the Commander of AMO Station. Iscar has taken up freighter piloting to the surface. She was already halfway there on the learning curve, because she did the shuttle routes hundreds of times when we were Joined.

We sometimes meet in coffee rooms, on the surface, when we are waiting for the ships to be readied. It is so comfortable to be with her. We talk about family and the latest Joining, a child's new tooth. We were together, in Troy City, when the word came in from Teddy. He was trying to keep his voice steady.

"The boy has brought a friend home. A friend by the name of Corel," said Teddy.

"We can't get home until late tonight," said Iscar. "Armann is here with me. We will come as quick as we can."

"What should I do about this? I don't know anything to say," said Teddy.

"Just treat it as a normal development trait. Tell them to be a help to one another for they will never again be apart," said Iscar.

"He is so young. He wants real answers," cried Teddy.

"Get Ting and Johann. They will help you. Ask them for me, if they will be Godparents," said Iscar.

"I am sure that Ting can help. Thank you. See you later," said Teddy.

It was quite a gathering that night in the Sawyer compound. Gordon, Susan, myself, Iscar, Yan and Ting, Allison, Zeeba and Ella, and our boy Gould, Teddy, Johann, and my other children's Joined partners. The boy Corel had gone home after a long talk with Ting. Arthur Armann, my namesake, was just managing to stay awake.

"You see how normal it is. Most of these people are Joined." I said to Arthur Armann. "Can you tell us how it happened?"

"We were out in the Hopball field playing three on three. Corel was odd man out. We could have added him to the weaker team. I walked over to talk to him. The others left. They might have been jealous."

"And?" I prompted. "Did you know him before today," asked Iscar.

"His parents moved him here from AMAN Station. It was his first month in school. But not in my class. He is in grade 2. I am in 1."

"And?"

"We just Joined. I didn't do anything. He was happy just watching the game."

"Is he listen now?"

"He can't sleep. You are keeping us up."

"We are the Lucky Twos. We get to know another person, better than anyone ever can. We get to see the world with two bodies," said Ting.

Johann said. "You must be very careful not make others jealous of you. They will want what you have, and will try to hurt you because they can't have it. It happened to me."

As far as we know the Joinings have only happened in the Venus Ring. It might, historically, have happen on Earth and has been mistaken for something else. Luna has not reported any cases, nor Mars.

Yan had to talk to someone. Visiting was something she could not keep secret much longer. The Redcloud children are not good at keeping secrets. But she knew someone who was good at it. Mama has been married to Papa for seventeen years. She has lived through this whole business of Joining and mental communications, the whole time. She has had to share Armann with another woman, who must know him very intimately. And yet she seldom complains. Maybe it is because she has such a responsible job, that gives her the respect of the whole Venus Ring population. She must have her secrets.

Instead of raising six children, she complains of having to raise eleven. This can either strengthen you or kill you. Susan has the character that Yan could only wish for. It was at this age of 16, that Yan was reflecting on the past and the future, what she must do to become the best that is in her. She goes to her mother with confidence and trust.

"I am trusting you to keep this between us. I can not deal with others knowing right now," states Yan. "You know, you can talk to me about anything," said Susan.

"You must not tell Papa, not yet," emphasized Yan. "Ok, I will keep it secret as long as you wish." replies Susan.

"I have been Visiting people," says Yan. Her face was very serious now that she had let the cat out of the bag.

"I don't understand."

"In their minds. I can go inside certain people and stay quiet, feeling, sensing everything. Then I leave a few minutes later."

"You mean like the Joining?" asked Susan.

"I don't get stuck. They don't realize I am there. And then I am gone," said Yan.

"Are you comfortable with this?" susan replied.

"No. And I know I must experiment. This is something new. As Gordon would say, not in the books."

"Do not visit people involved with the council," explained Susan.

"No, you do not understand. It has to be a receptive. There are very few of those."

"How many Visits have you made?" asked Susan.

"Five so far. Young people. One not born yet."

"Can you control this?" prompted her mother.

"Yes. At least I can pull out when I want."

"Do you have to meet them for the Visit?"

"Or see them at a distance," answered Yan.

"This family is a bunch of freaks." she cries out.

Mama was always saying that. Nobody takes offence. "So what do you think?" Yan asked.

"Well, stick with the pre-born. You will learn a lot from her. I don't know what else to say. It is not territory I will ever tread. Don't be a snoop. Don't use information to harm anyone. If someone wants you out, then get out. Don't talk to me about anyone, unless something harmful might happen. You will have to talk to your father about this, and Gordon must be informed."

"I know, but please not now."

Armann, Susan and Ting went to meet Nella at the Station shuttle port. Gordon and Avril were accompanying her from AMAN, where the Lunar ships had docked. Nella recognized the honour and knew that it was mostly because she was the daughter of Shellby, a good friend of Gordon's.

Her often absent father, she knew hardly at all, still had a great influence on her life.. She had yet to realize, that she was very much like him. And a much better composer.

She recognized Susan and Armann from the News Vids. Susan had a regular health advice program. Armann was the first of the Joined. She knew that the girl with them was either Ting or Yan. They are identical twins. It was a very attractive family. Armann with his war scars from the streets of Earth had a proud stance. Susan showed great strength of character and the daughter seemed to not have a worry in the world. Nella liked the way they greeted her, just like she was an ordinary person. She felt she was being absorbed into a family without judgement about her past. They talked about dinner and a room that she could use for sleeping and composing.

The ship had allowed her to study their family info. Armann's children, Ting, Joni, Ella, Billy and Gould were Joined. Yan was not. It seemed, as she look around, to her, that this family had a certain emotional maturity or balance that most did not.

A crowd of young people waited her arrival in the Redcloud compound. Some older Chinese couples stood in the background.

Yan watched Nella breeze into the courtyard. Her long narrow neck and fingers, her smooth soft skin. Her finely formed chin lifted to say something about the foliage growing up the walls. Susan stood slightly in Yan's line of view. Susan turned and walked slowly over to Yan.

She said, "Your mouth is hanging open. Don't start drooling. Pull yourself together. No one in my family will loose their dignity, while our guest is here."

"I had no idea, anyone could be so beautiful," said Yan.

"It is just hormones. Nella is only of average beauty. Now get it together," insisted her mother.

"I will try. I have to go for a walk."

"You will stay and be introduced!" Yan kept her eyes on anything but Nella until Armann introduced them.

"You must be Yan. I know about you from the profiles I was given," said Nella. They shook hands.

"Very good to meet you." Yan looked directly at her. She felt her self being drawn in. "I will see you later."

Nella felt a jolt of something in her head. She jumped back. Yan was disoriented. Then she was gone out the door. Susan was standing beside Nella. She put a comforting arm around her.

"Welcome to my crazy family," said Susan.

Yan took the lift up to the Atrium. She walked for a while trying to keep her mind still. Being dinner time their was nobody about.

"Half an hour. What can I do in half an hour to change how I feel. I must be back soon."

Yan sat in a familiar spot and practiced the Yoga meditation she was learning in school. She tried to empty her mind.

"I have to get my mind, my heart under control," she thought.

Breathing deeply, she was soon relaxed and into another state of mind.

A breeze blew lightly through the leaves of the tree above her. She lost track of time. She was reaching a better level of awareness. A strong iron shell seemed to be lodged in her stomach, then expand to encase her body. She knew this is what the teacher called the cannon ball.

The lights dimmed. She had been sitting for four hours.

Susan was there, when she left the meditation spot.

"Didn't want to disturb you," said Susan.

"I forgot about the time. What is happening downstairs?" Yan asked.

"She has gone to bed. It has been a long day."

"I entered her. Just for a split second. I can't control the entering."

"Yes I know. She does not yet realize what happened. You know you have a great talent."

"What is that?" Yan asked.

"You can find receptives. Without fear of Joining."

"Is that important?" Yan asked.

"It will be as the ring families grows over the years. It is always better to have an edge. I have arranged for you to sleep nights in the Franklin Compound. It should be far enough so you can sleep," said Susan. "I expect you for breakfast."

Yan came back home in the morning to shower and dress. She was sitting at the table, with toast and juice, when Nella walked by in bathrobe headed for the washrooms.

"Hello Ting, you are up early," said Nella.

"Did you sleep well? The rain against the window, I always find it soothing."

Nella turned her head and looked at her. "You're Yan, right."

Susan soon came out and sat, pouring herself a coffee.

"You sleep alright?" She asked her daughter.

"No problem. Maybe it will all settle down now."

Nella came back later and sat herself down at the table.

"Ting is up in the atrium practicing her Yoga. She does that, every morning before breakfast," said Yan.

"Last night you seemed like quite a different people. How do I tell you apart," asked Nella.

"I wear a blue metal bracelet," she pointed at the band on her arm.

"You were not feeling well last night?"

"Come with me," said Susan. "Come, both of you, into the meeting room both of you," she insisted.

She led the young women through the kitchen. Nella grabbed a raisin bun on the way.

"What are you up to mother?" asked Yan.

"I am going to tell her. She has a right to know."

"Please Mama, you promised." They were now seated at the large round table.

"Yan is not Joined, but she is an active," said Susan facing Nella.

"I understand that part," said Nella.

"You are a receptive," continued Susan.

"Oh. But then we should have Joined." Querried Nella.

"Yan is different. She has enough control to pull out. That was what happened last night. She did not know until she Joined with you, that you were receptive and then she pulled out right away."

"That was last night, it will not happen again," said Yan.

"When your hormones are up later today, you will loose control or maybe not. I had to tell her. It would be a good idea, not to say anything about this for a while. Will you pull out if she asks you to?" asked Susan of Yan.

"Of course," said Yan.

"Do you have any questions, Nella?"

"Only a thousand. Can I ask them as the answers are needed?" asked Nella.

"Sure. Just don't let things get out of control, before asking for help." Susan had learned long ago, to role with the punches. Joining was not something she could control, but she could insist on moral behaviour and discretion.

Yan cleaned up the dishes and made her way to her morning math classes. She was studying with an eye, to becoming a teacher. For four hours she was safe. Except that her classmates were constantly asking her about Nella Bluk. They wanted a date, to know if she would be playing a concert and any personal information they could get. This was very unusual behaviour. Young people generally left the more famous alone.

Yan came back to the compound about 1:00 p.m., tired and hungry. A mixed fruit salad and a yogurt shake made a refreshing meal. Her sisters and brother all talked of how their friends kept bugging them for something on Nella.

Nella was quiet. She watched these fine young people, so capable, bothered by a small thing like her fame. She cared very little for fame.

"I will give a program of the songs from my last disc. I suppose it should not be too difficult to set it up."

"I will see that the entertainment committee knows about it," said Susan. "But you must not do anything you are unhappy with."

"I will be happy to do it. All I need is a few days to prepare. What I really enjoy is the creative process. If you want, I can play something for your compound tonight."

"I am sure that would be welcomed by all," said Ting.

Nella was practicing with her door open. The delicate sparkling notes from her guitar floated out into the courtyard. She was deep in her creative state. Yan felt the pull to glimpse in on that creative process. It was some new song or fragment she was working on. The richness of her tone and the melancholy of her words, about love and life and loss of love tugged at her. For an hour maybe two, she sat quietly in Nella's head, just observing the growth of a miracle. Patiently and persistently Nella kept working and massaging a group of notes or a phrase.

Quietly Yan pulled out and went for a cold shower. She was exhausted.

Yan did not talk publicly with Nella. Nella played for the compound, not that evening but the next.

"She is very Chinese in the way she sings the song," said Yan Yan.

"Such an artist with the Guitar," exclaimed Ting Ting. They were all enchanted.

Yan followed in a very quiet way, singing in harmony with a song of lose and sorrow.

"A little louder Yan, that is very pretty," said Nella. Yan raised her voice a little. She was shy to sing with such a professional. Soon she forgot to be shy. The songs brought out her harmony skills, that she had been hiding from the others. Nella began singing some nonsense words and Yan carried on doing a Wa Wa harmony. Soon Joni and Ting joined in as backup. It was most satisfying for everyone.

Two days later Yan was resting in the afternoon, Nella was practicing. Yan fell asleep while Visiting. "Please wake up, girl," said Nella.

Yan woke to find the vision of Nella leaning over her bed.

"You fell asleep. I was awake living in your dreams." Yan pulled out.

"I don't remember the dreams," said Yan.

"They were very interesting. We traveled to Luna, but not the Luna I know. It was covered with an old forest. We flew into a deep hole in the canopy. Many others were there listening to music. They looked expectantly at me or you, I don't know which. I played a song, I had been working on. They acted as if they heard it, with smiles and a thank you. But later your dreams got darker. I had to remind myself. I was awake and I needed to wake you."

"Well you had fun." commented Yan.

"Yes I did. " Nella bent over and kissed her on the cheek. "I am going back to finish that song. Don't visit me again today."

Yan watched her walk out, a receding back. "I love you, Nella," she said quietly to herself.

A week later Nella put on a big show for the Imagine station. They did it in the open arena up in the Atrium fields. It was televised. Ting, Yan and Joni sang a modest backup, to her music. It went so well Nella decided to give a concert once a week in each of the eleven stations. Then she would see what else was possible. This gave the girls a chance to visit each station. AMO, Ideas, Answers, Questions, Justice, Grace, Light, Wisdom, Beauty, AMI, AMAN.

Yan had the opportunity to observe the people in each place. During the concerts and at the parties after. She was able, under her fathers guidance, to make her presence invisible when necessary. She felt like, she was tuning an instrument. When ideas started coming, she felt like she was writing phrases. And when the ideas started taking on life, as a larger set of ideas, then she felt the wholeness of a song.

The dynamics of groups and crowds. She needed to write things down, but how could she without having the tools, the bars and clefts. It amazed her how different people could be, in reaction to the same set of songs. The presentation was quite different on different nights.

Yan thought that this knowledge could easily be applied to teaching and education systems.

When six months were completed and the Redcloud compound had maintained it cohesive nature, Nella felt she could safely move on to new horizons. Venus surface and the attraction to a young surface shuttle pilot, convinced her that she had fans and a place in Sugar City. Yan was torn between going down with her and staying to find emptiness again.

For her eighteenth birthday, she received kisses of good-bye and presents of love from family and friends. She was going to Mars as part of a grand tour. Not a well planned one. She did not know how long she would be staying on Mars or where she would be going after that. She wanted to return to Luna and Earth as well.

A month earlier she had visited with Gordon, on her mother's advise.

"I wish to do some travelling. I feel hollow, unfulfilled, not unhappy but certainly not ready to start teaching as is expected of me."

"You are in search of your soul. Did someone run off with it?" asked Gordon.

"Nella was a dear friend. She is gone and I don't make friends easily," explained Yan.

"You can be on Mars by October if you take the Glimmer on April 9th. I will introduce you to the captain if you come back around 11:30 am. "

"I will do that."

* * *

Captain Leo Lyle was about her father's age. Like him, he had a few scars and a rough demeanor. You could tell he knew how to handle people. A man who understood group behaviour. They got along well.

When she said her good-byes and the ship had pulled away to set sites on its course to Mars, Captain Leo called her forward to the Bridge.

"You interested in space flight? I see your father pilots," he inquired.

"I have some interest in it," replied Yan

"Four months can be a long time cooped up with 1,500 people. I can teach you a lot on the trip. Gordon suggested you might want to learn. It helps keep away the boredom as well."

"I will give it a try," she agreed.

"Well what are you standing there for. Take that seat and we will start," said Leo.

So she learned better than she had ever hoped. A simulator room was there, built into the bridge, Another room, which was used by Leo, the first mate and trainees. She was the trainee this trip. Yan's sufferings, because of separation from her family, were not as strong as her feelings of loss for Nella. A hole seem to lie inside her heart. Nothing would dislodge it.

The crew were made up of a odd mix of families visiting family, young adventurers like herself and engineers on exchange programs. One hundred engineers were on route, some with families, to be part of a Mars / Venus structural engineer program. Already the Mars portion of the program had joined with colleges on Venus Surface. About half of the contingent on board were women. One of those women was Petunia Blade.

From the first day, Yan started to talk to Pet, as she wanted to be called, she felt a strong kinship. Yan talked about her feeling of being overwhelmed by the flatness of the Prairie plains on Earth. Pet was a big woman strong and broad. Her energy and presence, dominated any group Yan saw her involved in. She guest her age at about 30. All conversations involved direct physical contact. Pet touch everyone she needed to communicate with. Because Yan liked her, she allowed all the holding of shoulders, grasping of hands, arms around her waist. She found, after a week of friendship, that Pet would hold her hand, while walking in the halls and corridors. She thought there was some talk about them, but she never heard any. She came from a family that was always drawing comments.

Leo never said anything. He seemed to like Pet. Her personality seemed to bounce off his, as they traded jokes and made innuendoes.

Speaking to Yan. "Good to see you have made a friend. I wondered, how long it would take," said Leo.

"You have been keeping an eye on me?" she answered.

"I keep an eye on everyone. But some more than others. I often try to guess, which people will end up together," commented Leo.

"What do you do, when you get lonely?"

"My wife and I were divorced three years ago. I haven't had any of my family with me since then." I find people like you and Pet. There is usually someone interested in space flight."

The two women kissed and said their good-byes. Pet was off with a young man. He had agreed to accompany her, out into the Mars wilderness, where she would be aiding, in the construction of rail bridges, over the planet's many crevasses and rivers.

Yan found her way into the central core of Mars City. There, she located the university and it's Department of Nano Engineering. Ghita was a permanent consultant with her own large office on the second floor.

"Yan Redcloud. I am so glad you have made it safely here. How did it go, with that old lecher, Leo," asked Ghita.

"He was very much the angel. He taught me how to do long course piloting."

"You are so resourceful, like your mother. How did you keep him off."

"A girlfriend. She took my place at night."

"Did he tell you he was divorced," asked Ghita.

"Yes, he did," replied Yan in wonder.

"His wife still lives in the same house, that he uses, when he is home."

"Well, no harm done," said Yan.

"How long are you staying on Mars and what are you planning," asked Ghita.

"I don't know. Never been here before. I was thinking a few months. I would like to travel around, study the people. Compare group activities and difference in behaviour with Venus Ring."

"You told me much by email, about your group dynamic studies. Do you think I can help you?"

"I just want some way to naturally get into a lot of the social functions on Mars. Without being distractingly obvious."

"I will do what I can. Usually, I avoid a lot of the local functions. You will find age makes you comfortable and lazy."

Yan bought herself a special Pad, that could record text and sound in multiple ways. Just the movement of her fingers recorded text and controlled functions. She was ready to start.

Ghita treated her as a long lost niece. She introduced her as the daughter of a friend on Venus Ring. Yan was given a dummy job to allow her the freedom to visit many parts of the planet without supervision. It was never mentioned that she was doing group studies. That just would not do.

Yan went to a lot of dances. Here on Mars, there was a history of drinking around dances. Not that drinks were served at the dances. The booze was downed before or outside the dancehalls. And yet there was also a larger group that did not use alcohol. Both went to the dances and seemed to enjoy themselves as much.

"I don't usually go to these dances. But you need a chaperone," said Ghita.

"Some chaperone, I am fighting them off, right and left."

"I never would have complained at your age," said Ghita.

"You were married at my age."

"You have a point, but I still would not have complained."

It shocked her to see young people unable to control themselves. Young girls, having to be lifted off the floor because their bodies had given up.

The drinking came with the first settlers. Their rules were loose, those lonely Martians were at first not allowed to have families along. Self-government was a taboo subject.

"Many young people go to other dances, where drinking and drugs are strictly prohibited," said Ghita.

"I don't know, whether I want to see any more of this, and I am about ready to leave this scene," said Yan.

**************

Yan visited the seven major cities of Mars. She traveled in all directions, on rail and shuttle to inform herself of town and village life. For the most part, community life followed the pattern on Luna. Some changes had to be made, because of the isolation of small compounds.

Finally, after five months, she was ready to visit Lyle's Corner.

---

Yan was greeted at the train station by Captain Leo Lyle himself. He had brought an all terrain vehicle that seemed quite open to the elements.

"I will tie your cases to the back, there is the oxygen tube. We are going to take the scenic route back home," said Leo.

The four big tires filled with astro-gel, made most of the bulk of the machine. They sat on seats like a bicycle and sped off, the high whine, telling her there was an electric turbine engine below her. It's radiating heat kept her warm despite their breakneck speed into the lake region. They entered almost immediately, into a well warn track through a forest of young trees.

"The trees are specially bred for Mars. They grow slower and use less air." commented Leo.

The wind was blowing freely passed Yan's ears. They came out of the woods suddenly, into a large clearing. The ground was rock. Large flat smooth rocks. A gentle rolling surface to drive over. The first lake was not much more than a depression in the rock. They followed the shore up toward the most massive canyon on this side of Mars. Now they were near a river then a large round lake Leo called Lake Oh. It was deep, you could tell by the deep blue colour in the middle.

Boats, there were now several scattered on the surface. Leo waved to the sitting fishermen holding long slender poles out over the water.

"People pay good money to come here. For just a few quiet days. Then back to family and their difficult jobs," said Leo.

"The fish eggs were brought from Earth. We have made refinements to the species of Pickerel, Trout, Perch and Walleye. They need certain conditions to live. Vegetation, swamp plants, insects like midges and flies, dragonflies and bees. On the bottom are crawfish and clams," explained Leo.

The machine sped down the shore. Then across a shallow creek and onto another lakeshore.

"This is Pan Lake. There are dozens more up the canyon. About five kilometres in you have to give up, because there is so little light getting in passed the high canyon walls."

Then she notices the wall starting to grow out of the Earth to her left. Another lake fed by creeks then another and another to her right. The Wall on the far shore was beginning to grow also. The wall to her left was now very tall but so far away that she found it hard to fit the size of her own body into the scale of things.

The vehicle turned left and headed for that wall. It was still sunny at the base. A hundred metres of rubble lay at the bottom. She could not see the top. She noticed a small cave or hole in the cliff face about 300 metres up. There was a long ladder leaning against the wall.

"That is where we are going," said Leo. He had stopped the machine and was standing clear, pointing up.

"Why do we have to go up there?" asked Yan.

"Because you have to see it to believe it."

Yan went first. Leo held the ladder until she was almost up. Just as she was about to step around into the hole, Leo came running up almost dumping her off.

"You could have waited until I was in." complained Yan.

He lifted her up and pushed her into the tunnel.

"You need to keep quiet about this. The announcement goes out in two days," explained Leo.

They walked for three km into the low light shaft. At the face lighting was good enough to show a black wall of crumbling rock. She picked up a piece and pressed it between her fingers. "It is coal. And not the good stuff."

"Yes, it is called Brown coal in Cape Breton, and we think that is where it came from. It is full of nitrogen and sulfur and all kind of valuable elements and organics we can use here on Mars," said Leo.

"How big."

"Maybe bigger than the moon deposit. We are not sure yet. This part of the cliff might not be natural. Just extended to better protect the coal."

Yan was suitably impressed. She had seen the coal cave of Luna and knew how important it had been in the success of the space program.

* * *

Leo backtracked the machine until they reach the Lodge where he and his family lived. The whole village seemed to consist of five large houses, a hardware store, a fuel station by the lake and the lodge.

"Each of these houses is basically a hotel for the tourists. We have our apartments underground like most places on Mars. The Lodge provides a general store and restaurant for the public," said Leo, as he walked toward the seal doors at the front of the lodge. Yan followed bags in hand.

"How many people live here?" asked Yan.

"90 in off season 500 in season."

He led her through the doors. Inside was a long room with a dining counter on the left, with old style bar stools and simulated chrome. On the right were shelves upon shelves of canned foods and fishing gear.

"People go out for days at a time. They need supplies. We have rations, canned and freeze dried foods," explained Leo.

A large boned middle aged woman, a little like Yan's mother, came out from behind the counter.

"This is my wife, Sally. I would like you to meet my star student on the flight from Venus."

They shock hands.

"I am glad to meet you, Yan. I knew your mother on Luna. I have notified her that you have arrived safely."

"Thank you. This place must keep you awfully busy. "

"Just for half the year. Then the cold temperatures keep people away. Those cold days are not as many as they once were. Even so I never feel warm on this planet," said. Sally.

Yan followed them down into the corridors below the building.

"We live in great comfort underground," said Leo.

"We could handle 3,000 people here. I expect we will soon see them moving in with the mining operation about to start," said. Sally.

Yan followed them into the bright courtyard that housed the greater Lyle family. She was introduced to about fifty persons during the afternoon and evening. The evening was capped by a hardy meal of potatoes and chili. Yan settled into talking to Sally and her daughter Zelda.

If Yan had received a wider education, she would have realized that Sally and Zelda, represented a long line of Euro-Asian gypsies. Many of the early women sent to Mars were gypsies. They had been separated from their families in a systematic campaign by the Euro governments. And sent to Mars against their will. Younger and older men worked in difficult locations about the planet. Mars were only too willing to accept the exotic women as mates. The women quickly picked the men that suited them best and made plans to re-establish their Gypsy life styles. The Mars environment worked against moving from one location to another.

When Luna's colonies began to prosper on Mars, the gypsy women felt a strong kinship with them. It did not take long for alliances to be established and orders from Earth to be ignored. It was remarkable, that gypsy women managed, to produce three times as many girls as boys. Before twenty years had passed most of the unmarried Mars men had partners. And the men were devoted, to their gypsy trained women.

Self-government was offered to the Euro-American and Chinese settlers by Luna's Local Council. The Euro-Americans accepted immediately. Information was now offered to Earth for a price, research was done by the Mars bases for their own benefits. Their loyalty were first to Mars and then to Luna, there mother Government. By 2079 it had a completed Planetary Government, Recognized by Luna and Venus Ring.

This last few months, had taught Yan how effective it was to make a move at the right time. History had been changed by strategic moves on Mars and Luna.

She looked at Sally and Zelda. She was impressed by the women's choice of clothing and the way that they were always in control of their bodies. Even with her, they made sexual innuendoes, that were hard to ignore or resist. If she had been settling a business deal, she would be decidedly at a disadvantage.

Zelda was 17 years old and unmarried. It was a wonder, how such a attractive young woman could stay unattached for a week or even a day. All around her, she turned heads and excited sexual thoughts. "I hate them sometimes. They eye me up and down. Both the men and the women. Despite my mannerisms, they do not have that right," said Zelda.

"But you are like candy to their eyes. The sweetness just seeps out of you," explained Yan.

"Why do you talk that way? Do you take their side?" complained Zelda.

"There are no sides, I hope," said Yan. "Maybe I am naive, but I can see from the man's point of view."

"You want me like a man?" Zelda was saying this all in front of her mother. She was not confrontational. Zelda was just blunt and straightforward.

"I have seen through the eyes of a man. On Venus Ring I am part of a family that have all Joined. I have not 'Joined', but I 'Visit'. I have seen the thought patterns of a single man walking past dozens of young women. Each one is given consideration and you would be surprises how few are outrightly rejected."

"We know the power of women. We use it to get the best for our children and our community," said Sally. "This power you have is even greater."

That night Zelda shared her large bed with Yan. Zelda woke her early the next morning.

"Put the sweater on, I want to show you something," said Zelda.

Yan dressed and followed her out the corridor, up a lift and through the back door.

"We will not need the oxygen bottle."

They walked quickly through the trees, following a well worn path up into the lake country.

"Just keep your breathing deep and even. Don't rush, calm your heart beat," said Zelda.

Yan found no difficulty breathing. It must be the cooler air layering the oxygen low to the ground. She felt the chill but it was receding with the warming of her body. A light frost lay on the grasses and fronds.

"I never realized there were places here you could breath freely," said Yan.

"Only in this valley and a couple of others. I figure the rest of the planet will caught up in ten years."

"You planning on staying here or going somewhere else?" Yan asked.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Zelda.

"I could help you. But you think I will demand something in return." Yan laughed. " You could be right. Thank you for teaching me something about myself."

"But I don't think your price will be too high." Zelda answered. "No, I expect to stay here. It will be a good life. Dad wants to start a new camp up the canyon. We have to convince the government, that a compound would succeed there."

"It is getting more difficult to breathe," said Yan.

"Just relax. I will slow down. You are not as used to this as I am."

Yan sat on a large boulder to catch her breathe.

Zelda waited nearby then held out her hand.

"Stand up. There is one other thing you have to do."

Zelda led her to the shore. "Put your hand in there."

Yan obeyed. The water was warm at first, then cool.

Zelda was taking off her clothes. Before Yan could say anything, she was nude and splashing out into the water.

"Come in for a swim." she yelled.

Yan had watched with great admiration, Zelda's rich full body as she romped and dived.

Yan removed her shoes and clothes while looking around for boats. The sun was just rising.

She walked slowly into the water until it reached up to her breasts. The cold was again hindering her breathing. Suddenly her legs were pulled out from under her. She jumped up quickly huffing and puffing for air.

"You are very beautiful, Yan. And that is from my point of view."

They fooled about and splash, dunking each other.

"The water oxygenates the air just above the water. Many fisher men never use the oxygen on their boats. We better get out. Another five minutes and the body starts to produce uncontrolled shivering," stated Zelda.

Zelda grabbed her one towel and started drying Yan off.

"You are thinking unseemly thoughts. Just hold still," said Zelda. Too soon they were back in their clothes and walking back to Lyle's Corner. Yan held onto Zelda's hand when the path allowed. A small gesture to tell Zelda how she felt.

Yan soon found that Zelda's day was a very busy one. She worked at the soda fountain, cooked quick lunches for the clientele. She was the local expert on where to find the fish and what lures to use. The men told her every detail of their fishing day, they hung around spending their money just to be near her, that is until their wives or children came to get them. Zelda took care of sign in and signing out. After lunch she took a couple of hours to prepare the rooms for the new guests.

Sally was the chief cook. She had breakfast ready early each morning and a full dinner at seven.

It seemed in its own way a very good life. Very different from what Yan was used to. Someone will come along and capture Zelda's heart. And he will have to change all his life's plans, because she was staying put.

A few days later, Yan was invited to come fishing with a quiet older couple, Greg and Molly. Up early, the electric motor quietly pushed them up river, through the first lake into the joining river and into the second. They were sitting still now over the deepest part.

"There are big ones down there," said Greg. "I intend to run a line out here and wait as long as it takes for a nibble."

"You staying long here on Mars, young lady?" asked Molly.

"I am booked to ship out in three weeks."

"Greg and I both know your mother slightly. That was long before she was married. Her and Zeeba were partners then."

"What kind of work do you do?" asked Yan.

They looked slowly toward each other. Many expressions slowly crossed their faces.

"We run a restaurant. Out in the asteroid belt."

"That is a very unusual job. It must be very lonely. Is there a lot going on out there," asked Yan.

"Why if they knew what they had out there, it would be busier than Mars. We get to talk to a lot of Claimers," said Molly.

"But it is not that busy?" Yan asked.

"Not so anyone will take over our job when we retire," said. Greg. "We want to settle here in a few years."

"We also work for the Mars government. Keep them informed about all the characters travelling through the Belt," said Molly after a half hour silence. "This trip to Mars we brought our twin sons to Mars City to start in their studies at the university. It will be more difficult now, going back without them." They both looked sort of lost.

"You are in the family of the Joined?" stated Greg.

"Yes, but I am not." she replied.

They said very little after that.

"What do you call your restaurant?" asked Yan as they were heading back for lunch.

"The Well," said Molly.

Yan saw something in the couple that started her thinking. She made sure to get another fishing invitation for the morning. The following day, they proceeded further up the string of lakes. Fish were suppose to be hiding in the weed near the shore.

They switched off the motor and anchored the boat.

"When were you going to tell me?" asked Yan.

"About . . ..?" said Greg.

"I have seen it all my life. I can tell when two people are Joined."

"We wanted to tell you yesterday," said Molly. "But we were afraid. Not even our sons know about us. They think we are just mind reading."

"How long has it been? You might as well tell me the whole story," said Yan.

"We were both in our thirties. We met at a dance in Mountain City. We were all new arrivals then. I was married to another man. Greg was single," said Molly.

"I saw Molly at the dance, a Saturday night," said Greg. "I knew her husband. I was a new cook at the Hotel he managed."

"We touched hands, during introductions. Molly fainted and I stumbled to a chair."

"We got together later in the hospital where Molly was taken. Then we knew for sure. There was no one to help us so we kept it quiet. You must know how close the joined get. I found out about the Asteroid restaurant and we fled there, leaving her husband."

"I will have to file a report with my father. And you must register here. It is not illegal. But we must do something about your boys. How old are they?"

"They are sixteen. Living in residence," said Molly.

"We should go to Mars City, as soon as possible. I will phone my aunt Ghita when we get back to the lodge," said Yan.

Yan said her good-byes to Zelda. She was sad to cut her time short. An excuse was difficult to come up with. Ghita provided one, connected with her fake job in the university.

"I will be back. This is a great place and I will tell my friends to come here."

Molly and Greg left ahead of her. Set themselves up in a company flat in Mars City. Readied the boys, Eddy and Edwin, for Yan's visit. The boys were very mystified with it all.

They were very dismissive of Yan's explanation.

"You don't believe your parents are Joined?" asked Yan.

"They are good at faking people out," said Eddy.

"It is much more than mind reading. They live inside each other," said Yan. "There is no separation between them. You know more than you are letting on."

"The Joined are a bunch of crazy freaks. We don't want to be like them," said Eddy.

"Well thank you for the compliment," said Yan, "We are just people like any other, but we have an advantage. You both will join. It is only a question of when."

"I don't believe any of it," said Edwin.

"My sister is my twin. You know how that is. I am not Joined yet. She has been Joined for twelve years. That has made her very different from me. She is joined to a young man who has been a good friend to her all these years." Yan explained. They did not seem to be listening.

"I want you here tomorrow at nine. I have more explaining to do. Think about the fact that you have no choice in this. You will Join. The question is will you be happy or not. That is your choice."

"So we have the beginnings of a Joined community on Mars," said Ghita to Yan in her office, after the others had left.

"I guess you are happy now."

"More than happy. To think they have been here twenty years and were afraid to speak up. I need your help with finding two receptives for the boys," asked Ghita. "There is a fleet arriving from Luna in three days. Can you scan them for me?"

Yan had been scanning, or just keeping a lookout, for most of the time she was on Mars.

"Should we let the parents know? " asked Yan.

"They will find out when it happens. We should see that the boys meet receptives, under the best circumstances," said Ghita.

"You sound like your mother. Ruthless but effective," said Yan.

Yan spent four days rubbing elbows with the new arrivals. Six receptives. One unborn, twins girls six year olds, two males in their twenties and a forty year old woman.

"What is the woman's profession?" asked Yan.

"She is an accountant."

"Ok, I go with the twin girls."

"Right, when do we get them together?" asked Ghita. "Should the parents be warned?"

"They will be overcome with wonder, when they Join. There is no point in warning people ahead," said Yan.

Molly and Greg came in with the boys for the fourth day. The boys sat nervously side by side waiting for feeky stories.

"Well we are here, what do you have for us," said Eddy with a rather resigned expression on his face.

"I want you to meet two friends of mine," said Yan.

The girls walked in with their parents. None of them knew the real purpose of the meeting.

Eddy stood up. Then sat down hard. Edwin did not have a chance to stand.

One girl slumped on the floor. Ghita lifted her up and put her in a chair. Yan did the same with the other. The parents stood there in shock.

"Your girls, Rudi and Reena, are just fine," said Yan to the parents. "I will explain." And she did.

"Now you know." Yan said to the boys.

"I understand now, that you could not explain it," said Eddy. The girls sat up now in the arms of their parents.

"They shall be Joined for the rest of their lives. They should take time to dedicate themselves to the welfare of each other," said Ghita. "They will learn the true meaning of union."

Yan spent the next two weeks educating the boys and girls on the complexities of Joining. She encouraged them and promised them help from Venus Ring.

The ship back to Luna had an all women crew and a strong-minded female Captain. Yan was welcomed warmly as the ships trainee. On entering Lunar orbit, she was given her first mates certificate for interplanetary piloting.

On Luna she immediately started making plans for an Earth visit.

She had to see certain things, visit certain places and ask certain questions.

At the SpacePort on Earth, she arranged for bank cards and identification. She was a full Luna citizen and could travel anywhere but in the USA. First she arranged for a chauffeur and a guide. Her chauffeur was her old friend Stanford and the guide was his young wife, of Blackfoot decent.

Iscar and I often found ourselves together with little to do. Just waiting until the freighters were loaded, then make sure the paperwork was completed. I suggested we put our very compatible heads together and come up with some ideas that would aid Venus Ring development. We are not scientist or philosophers. We have no degrees in advanced engineering or hi-tech development. But I knew if we set our minds to it, we could make a difference.

Iscar and I would often sit together in a private room, with Pads in hand. We would patiently run through the history of accomplishments of the modern world. Sometimes we could sit quietly for hours. Other times we played different types of music to stimulate ideas. There was much on Venus and in Venus Ring that could be done. We were looking for something that could turn everything around.

Universities were already running in Venus Ring. But our small population limited its vitality. Venus was well on its way to becoming terraformed. We discussed our purpose here in the universe. We agreed that we were here to understand God and nature through religion and science. We wanted to believe that we were here to learn love for all peoples. When we played Billy Holiday we cried together. There is definitely some common thread running through all things. We are tied together, as social beings and the strength of that thread, is our love for each other.

We found a great idea. But it was to take ten years. During that time we sent smaller suggestions to the Venus Ring Council and sometimes they were implemented. (see Canada Station)

Venus is beginning to become populated. The temperature is down to 50 C and the air is breathable. There are still only two dozen spot on the surface, that are stable enough for cities and only a dozen cities have been built. Each diamond domed city has a number of underground habitats connected with it.

A program of establishing tropical vegetation about these cities, is in progress. The amount of rain is still limited so irrigation is used. There is more than enough indirect sunlight to maintain a healthy forest.

Our carbon reserves have made us a rich nation. We have used some of these in trade with Jupiter Ring for massive tubes of water. We are dumping these tubes directly into the atmosphere.

At twenty-five, Yan is now coming to grips with herself as an individual with her worth and purpose. She teaches on Venus, at Landria City Pilots School. One day in February, Iscar walked into her class as the children were leaving.

"Would it be possible to consult with you on an important matter? We need your help."

"What do you need with me?" Yan asked.

"Well Armann and I have been working on a project for the last ten years. To be truthful we haven't got very far."

"Sounds very mysterious. Why don't you ask the Joined ones or a university grads?" Added Yan.

"I am not explaining this well. Your father and I feel that it is the purpose of each person while living in this society, to contribute at least one significantly creative act. We feel that mankind is working this way, to make it possible for all individuals to be creative. To have a chance to inspire the rest of its peers. "

Yan sat down and started crying. Iscar went over to comfort her.

"Excuse me. I don't know why I am doing this," said Yan, wiping her tears.

"We want you, Yan. I am sure you can help us. Just meet with us, on occasion or in conference call, to throw out some ideas into the mix."

"There are lots of people working on new things. Why do they need me?"

"This is why America has been failing. We are all important. My idea is not less important because I am less educated," she was still holding Yan. "We are going to find something to knock their socks off."

"What we have been doing is listing everything that mankind has come up with in the last 3000 years. Then, we list, what we have done here. What makes us unique. Sometimes we just sit and meditate. It is great for settling the mind. Focusing thought," explained Iscar.

"I have been attending Gordon's meditation classes for about a year," said Yan.

"That should help some. His group is right on top of things," said Iscar. "I am proud of you, Yan. You have become a fine woman. Have you ever wished for something, it does not matter what, that could be different. Something that would make your life better. We are looking for an idea. Small or large." Iscar said.

"Large, that might be it. I would like to think large, but we are stuck with small wheel stations," said Yan.

"And?"

"I have memories of the prairies in Canada. I want to see people living in wide open spaces." She was one of the few now that had fresh memories.

"And?"

"Not much chance of that on the stations," she said it bitterly.

"Why do you say that?" said Iscar. There was excitement in her eyes.

"They have a station on the design boards. Nothing different. Another clone of the AMO." Stated Yan.

"Do you want to change that?" said Iscar.

"Yes, I think I do. Is this what you wanted," Yan asked.

"I think so," I answered. "We need to develop a plan and present it to the council."

"They will listen to us? We are not scientists or engineers," complained Yan.

"They will listen to the three of us," said Iscar.

A meeting was arranged.

"How many people feel like you?" Iscar asked.

"Oh, many. The stations are driving so many crazy. The only place they can go is to another station, just as cramped."

"How big should the station be?" her father asked.

"Ah, much bigger. So big you can't see the roof or the sides. So long it would take many days to walk it. "

"Let us see. That would be 12 km high, 15 km wide and 600 km long," said Armann.

"God, that is a monster! They would never accept that," said Iscar.

"It is like everything else. We start at the beginning, we work toward the middle, then we finish it."

"We first have to get them to stop this next station. Doesn't sound like many really want it, the way it is," said Iscar.

I made some more calculations.

"You won't believe this," I said.

"I would. It is 2,000,000 people more or less. Then we can work in three stacked rings or 6,000,000 people. And if we have three such stations that is 18,000,000. Not bad for a start," stated Iscar.

"At the rate of our population growth, we could have those stations filled in fifty years. And I know that the council has told us to plan ahead 500 years. Maybe, we are being conservative," said Yan.

"We have just got to the point, where now every material we need can be supplied from the surface. The carbon resources will allow us to ship super light panels, with much less fuel consumption. The atmosphere has reached the point, where stationary satellites should be able to lift supplies from the surface on carbon cables. Gone are the winds, that even five years ago, made it impossible to lower cables from orbit," said I.

"Do you think people will support the larger stations, when the power base is shifting to the surface?" asked Yan.

"I think we still have a few years, before that shift happens," replied I. "We have to show the council all the reasons to build large stations. One reason is to maintain our balance of power. Our numbers will make it possible, for us to accomplish things in orbit, that we can only wish for now."

"We could develop a whole new industrial empire, using the outer edges of the stations, as dry docks and nano factories. Areas that have substantial gravity and an excellent vacuum like the Moon has," said Iscar.

"We could set our sites on developing the best schools in the Solar System. A university like Harvard or Thunder Bay. A technical college like MIT or Saskatoon Tech. A computer science school like Waterloo or Athabasca," said Yan.

"Some of us just need wide open spaces," continued Yan. "We will not be able to function on cramped stations or in underground tunnels," she was definitely warming up to the subject. I, Armann, was busy writing everything down.

"We could call it Saskatchewan. At least the first wheel. The second wheel could be modeled after the Rocky Mountains and the third wheel after the Laurentian mountain area in Eastern Canada. The whole station could be called the Canada Wheel Station in honour of the country where we came from," said Iscar.

"You were born on Luna," said Yan.

"Well you know what I mean."

We took three month to write up a convincing draft for the presentation to the council. We presented it as a millenium project to transform Venus Ring into a Nation State that will demand respect in the council of planets. In the long run, it would benefit Venus surface with a vigorous trade and rich exchange of ideas. If nothing new is tried, Venus Ring would fade into history and the surface would lose a valuable resource. We will inspire surface development by showing them that with effort anything is possible, if the will is there. At the end Iscar made a suggestion that Yan be trained for the position of commander of the station. It was her idea for the expansion and she should be rewarded for it.

They built it with four wheels. It was named Canada Wheel Station. It could house ten million and had so many amenities that a 1000 palaces would not compare. The station that had been planned was canceled and everyone and his brother were put into planning for the larger station. The Cities of Venus were very glad to put their backs into it, upping production and building new factories for the diamond constructs. Sections of the station, required new ships large enough to lift them. In addition cable lifting systems were developed and came into full use during the building of the second station. The diamond extruder system was developed during this period.

Yan has been Commander for two year on Canada Station. She is married to a former Jupiter ship's captain, by the name of Nemo. He jumped ship, when he saw the beauty of our new station and fell in love with its commander. They met several times, before it dawned on her, that he would make a good husband. After they settle in to start a family, he dedicated himself to develop the Venus Ring Polytechnic Institute.

It was after their first child, a boy, that it began for Yan. She and Nemo conceived their second boy, Lenny. She experienced the Joining, at the moment of conception. We treated it without panic but some surprise. Just another of 30 Joinings? This was special and I let Yan know that we envied her, for being able to experience so closely the development of her child. Nemo was completely dumbfounded by our casualness to the event. Apparently, he concluded, this was just business as usual in Venus Ring.

I, Armann, believe Yan is doing a good job. The boy seems, at times, much older than his years and at others perfectly normal. I am sometimes in charge of his care, because Yan and Nemo live in the same compound with us. I try to treat him for the age he is, even though I know Yan is also right there. I don't talk to her through him, unless there is an emergency. Yan paces her many responsibilities to spend time playing with him. That is she talks to him as a child, encourages him to do child things. She knows that he can not cut himself off from all the business of the Station.

Of course, we are now living in the fine compounds of the Canada Station. Susan and I have a small two bedroom apartment. One room we use for my writing and Susan's projects with the hospital. Yan has the apartment next to ours. Lenny is always coming in to visit. Some times I wonder if it isn't Yan trying to make up for her stubborn childhood. When he jumps up on to my lap, I give extra hugs and tickles for both of them.

I have quit the freighter pilot job. And have taken upon myself the job of organizing the history department for the university. I have been doing this unofficially for years.

This often means getting right down to the nitty gritty and finding where information is, being careful to find many sources and putting warnings in popular works so that students will learn to be critical. Luna has sent many persons to help in the university's unfolding. They want it to become the best, just like I do.

Iscar MacNeal came over today. She also lives here in the BC wheel. I have met her socially many times but have never talk to her person to person. I have collected quite a file on her, in my work with the early history of the Lunar colony. We owe her everything, for what we have today.

Iscar's idea of fashion is an old flannel shirt and ragged faded blue jeans and no shoes. I guess, when you have accomplished what she has, you do not fear anyone's opinion.

She talked about the early days, the pivotal moments, when everything started to come together. She talked of Gordon and Claire and Colleen. How their work moved the society forward. I had been warned that she did not make visits lightly.

"Will and I were on the Council that built the first Holmstead Habitats. You should have been there. It was all very exciting."

"History has been my hobby and now it is my job. Anything you can add to what I have gathered, would be very appreciated."

"It was more than history. It was setting the future on the right course. We still have to do that." Now what does she have in mind?

"I do not have your advantage of being Joined. But my mind has been working fine this last year. You might have heard that the Americans are about to try something. It is bound to be underhanded or subversive. I think the building of these stations has cemented Luna and Venus tighter together than we were. But the Americans will try something, to drive a wedge between us."

"You think they are that stupid? We can get nasty too, if we are crossed," I commented.

"They will try something. I don't know what yet. Venus Ring is considering, what it can do, to help Luna and Venus Surface. They have helped us, now we help them. You got any ideas send them to me or the council."

"You came here to tell me this." I asked.

"No, I have been put in charge of a secret services bureau. We will just call it the Bureau. I want you to be a consultant to that Bureau. You stay with the history department. We ask you to get information that only you know how to get. We need you because of your constant concern for Earth, not just your knowledge. Our younger ones forget, that there are real people back there."

"What you been hearing in the communities? Have people started to turn against the Joined?" I asked.

"I hope not. People talk to me, as if I am some kind of icon. They will not talk to me, as they talk to each other. You think this can be used to divide us?"

"Maybe. Any ideas on how to head it off?" I asked.

"We could make sure everyone knows about the McCarthy years. Only one news person and his agency stood up to the power grabber. And it worked. But not before the nation was seriously damaged. That was the peak of their society. Then there was Vietnam and Dakota. They are still hurting from those times."

"It is bravery that saves a people and a nation. Courage to stand alone against all odds, for what is your right. But it is also wisdom and timing. You had very good timing on Luna," I said.

"Thank you. I put a lot of effort into timing. It makes up for bravery and courage," said Iscar. "I will be clueing you in, as we go along. Are you in?"

"I guess I am. You want me to sign something?"

"No, When they get rid of me, they will probably want you to sign something. I will just add a level to your pay cheque."

"Want a coffee and a donut?"

"I thought you would never ask." answered Iscar the elder.

"Grampa Armann." Called the boy. "You going into the fields today. Lenny stood in the door, with his big brother Robert standing behind him. I stood up and walked toward them.

"You bet I am. Get your shoes on. We might be walking through thistles." They ran to fetch their sandals from the rack. They both wore only the standard jean shorts and no shirt.

The lift was just down the corridor. We jumped on and were soon up on the prairie level. Fields of wheat, barley, corn, oats, flax, cotton, rape seed, sunflowers, neem, cannabis, and many other grains and winter squash are growing as far as the eye can see. There is not a lot for people to do in such a field. Between the fields are strips of vegetable gardens, walkways, grass, and small parks. I walked, while the boys ran about playing tag and getting into trouble. People rode bicycles and skated with blades on the hard paths. Six hundred kilometres of straight walking to circle the station. These days I don't go to far. Many of the younger ones, go out for days or weeks exploring the four wheels of the station.

We have made some major agreements with Venus, Luna, Mars and Jupiter Ring to exchange technology. If Earth only knew, that all they had to do is be honest with us. We would give them everything we have.

Trust is easy to loose and hard to regain. They have not even begun the process. The U.S. needs a little humility. When they start taking care of there own, then we will get the message.

Luna is still bringing in people from Canada. Now it is the lower classes of Chinese. 200,000 people in the last two years. We have offered to take and transport as many people as want to come from Luna.

Susan and I are now thinking of a trip to the outer planets. But we might just stay here and imagine it instead.

---

I started keeping a diary when I was six years old. No one knew I could read or write. I did not want them to know.

My parents, I do not even remember them. Just two busy Chinese people, running a restaurant in Fenelon Falls, Ontario.

When I was old enough, to reach the counter in the restaurant kitchen, they put me to work. I lived on leftovers. I slept when the evening rush was over. Sometimes mom would invite me and my older sister, out to eat with them in a customer booth.

When I reached nine years old, I still looked about five. Mama treated me as if I were five. She probably thought I was. All the children on our street, they towered over me. I was so small.

It was in grade 4 when the trouble started. There was a boy, a baseball sports star, in Fenelon Primary. He was in sixth grade.

He was hansom and strong and all the girls loved him. But he loved me. He would walk me home from school. I liked the attention.

The girls got me alone, one day at recess. My boyfriend was not at school that day. They beat me, kicked me. I don't think about it much. A new boy, Eric Robarts, he came to my rescue. He carried my shaking body into the school, to the nurses office. I came around while he was washing my face with a cool wet cloth.

"What did you do to make them so angry?" he asked me while I looked up at his scared face. "I am waiting for the nurse to come," he said.

"They were jealous, because a boy likes me," I replied.

Eric must have liked me too, because he leaned over and kissed my cheek. That is when the trouble started. It has never stopped.

I did not know, what it was called then. I had never heard of the Joining. Eric was very surprised and confused when it happened. He thought, he had done something very bad. I felt different. I welcomed the company. I knew it felt good and tried to tell him. He left the school before the nurse came. Tried to run away from me.

Nothing in school went well after that.

The girls were afraid of me. Eric could not keep quiet, about me being inside of him. When the month of April came, and my tenth birthday, I got my few things together and headed South to the big city. I never contacted my parents or heard from them again. I got as far as Woodbine and Queen Street East, where a young woman found me sitting on a park bench. She promised me a good home and lots of money. It was still cold and damp at night and this was the only good offer that I had all week. So I went with her.

She introduced me to the Madame.

Madame Serena treated me like a princess. She gave me a fine room for my own use and another room where I was to work. She taught me everything a woman must do, to make a man happy.

"Your size is your best asset. If you have some difficulties, that will excite the customer to greater pleasure. You are learning the most ancient art of women. I will pay you well, for one client a day."

I was happy with that. The men I tried to forget. I soon found pleasure in the things, she bought me. They opened up the world to me. The Internet helped me to learn. I had the money to start some high school courses. Madame Serena did not care what I did in my spare time. I did my job very well. I learned about music and movies, science and mathematics.

Some clients got rough. I was not allowed to talk to them. They were important people and it was better that I knew nothing. They gave me tips and I soon learned to hide the money, it was never seen on camera. Madame knew what I was doing but not about the money that I hid. She sold the Vid recordings.

I had one friend. He worked in his newspaper stand down on the corner. He advised me, that I must save my money. Madame would not let me go to the bank, without an escort. I did not want her to know about the tips.

"Can you help me? I have no way to save this extra money I get in tips." I asked the News-stand man.

"I have known many young women, working with Madame Serena. I will help you." Terry answered.

I trusted him. It did not matter really. There were no other choices. When I bought the newspaper Terry would tell me how much I had in savings.

Six months I worked without any complaints. Then a young man, maybe seventeen, came to me. It was his first time. It was a present from his father. I am very expensive. He was much more nervous than I had ever seen a customer before.

"Be calm. I can help you. It is my job. Just think of me as a councilor. Just relax. I am your mother, your princess, your heart." He probably believed I was six years old.

It happened just like in school, in the nurses office. We Joined. He was inside me. I was inside him. He just lay there, babbling and crying. The Madame came in and took him away. He was very sad. I kept reassuring him, as his father took him home, how good a young man he was. Jim Kennedy was to become a good friend. His father moved the family into the consul house in Berlin. Jim was in training for the foreign services.

Madame told me to lay off and just serve the clients quietly. I guess I had itchy feet. I was turning eleven on April 8th. I asked her for a day off. For a quiet day at the beach, sitting in the shade with a cool cola. I should have given her more warning. She had a special customer, maybe a police detective. He had a pistol, in a underarm holster. He had it near at hand, as he lay waiting for me. He wanted the standard treatment. My mind, I told myself, could be somewhere else.

He got rough, I had had enough of that. Anger welled inside me. He reached for the gun. I was inside. He pointed the gun at my head and did not hesitate to fire. I felt my head explode. Blood was all over the room. I decided my body was still alive. He was gone from my head and had lost his brains all over the room.

I grabbed my house coat and ran out the door down the street to the corner. Terry saw my terrible state. He dragged me into the booth, where I crouched down. I cleaned up around my face and hands with a towel he gave me. Terry lent me his coat to wear. I dropped the stained housecoat and took directions and a key for a garage where he kept his old papers. When everything seemed quiet, I found my way.

Terry came later that night to see me.

"It was foolish of me to wait so long to get you out. You could have stayed at the SpacePort until the flight." I did not know what he was talking about.

"Where can I go now. You will give me my money?" I asked.

"You are going on a long and interesting journey. If I was a little younger, I would go with you. This card will allow you to debit your bank account."

I took the card and some clothes he had brought. "My daughter used to wear that blouse and pants. Many years ago."

The shoes were a little big, the pants baggy but clean. He help me to cut off my hair.

"They will be looking for you. There is a car waiting for you in the lane. Saskatchewan here you come."

"Thank you for everything. You are a true friend." I said as I left him in the rented limousine.

I had felt the man's pain and death. It made all the difference. I wanted to have the experience of normal life before I died. The First Nations Settlement House at the SpacePort clued me in, to where I was going and that there were at least 5,000 others on the same flight.

I was interviewed by a old gray haired woman, Colleen Brown. She asked me for my history. I left out the Joining. Still, I don't think she believed everything, I was telling her. I could not prove I was eleven, but she did some research and came back contrite. A very smart woman, I wanted to ask her many questions. I wanted to ask her, if she would be my mother. I was sad. I was leaving such a kind person behind.

Colleen, I love that name. She put me with a native family, that had two young sons. They were also waiting for the flight. I was to assist them, until we arrived at Lunar immigration.

The flight was a chore. Not that it bothered me, but the boys had weak stomachs and I found I had to clean up after them.

Luna found me in good health. They put me on a diet especially to help me grow. Herbs and vitamins. I also went back to school.

My education had been so uneven they had to assign me a special tutor and gave me an intense course, in contemporary and ancient history. I knew very little of the world or ordinary social behaviour. I was happy for that four months.

I retrieved my journal from the Internet. It was the only thing I had left from my old life. I transferred the files to a Lunar server, just to be safe.

A light course in astronomy, sparked my fascination with the stars. The Vid images, sent by the Farside Observatory Complex, raised many questions in my mind. I decided to explore it further.

I joined a tour, with the help of my tutor. They were happy to answer my naive questions. I found out about a number of online courses for a small fee. Some were at University level. I was receiving a good allowance. Enough to take all the courses I wanted.

No looking back. I joined a club for Astrophysics. It was made up of students and amateurs, with a few professionals thrown in. I guess then I looked eight years old. The medicines were helping.

Star Chung was about my age. We became friends at the third weekly meeting. She invited me to visit at her apartment, shared with her brother Moon. She treated me as her long lost love. She offered me the most expensive cheese cake and the best fresh ground gourmet coffee.

She showed great affection for me. I was disappointed. There was no future in this.

On my fourth visit, I was going to tell her how I felt. But she made her move first. Star and I, Joined. There was shock in her eyes. No gun this time. She ran out to call for help.

Moon helped me up and I straighten my clothes.

"She is a bit strange. Please forgive her behaviour," he said.

"It is already too late for Star. It is not my fault, but she got too close." He had no idea.

I was kept informed about how the inquiry was going. All Star's antics were imprinted in my mind. She felt, that she was somehow privileged, because her grandfather was one of the founders. I looked up the founders, just to be clear on this important time in Lunar history. To my surprise, I found Colleen. I wrote her a note thanking her for believing me. I told her about the trouble I was in and about the Joining accidents.

* * *

I am shipped out.

The voyage to Venus supplied me with my own private apartment. Food was supplied through a dumb elevator. It was a definite improvement over the house on Woodbine. No clients and all the time I needed, to study those Internet courses. Venus Ring was next. I studied everything about it. Colleen had been there. I sometimes found myself thinking about her, often I was in tears.

"Oh Colleen, that beautiful name Colleen. I love you. Why are you not my mother."

I would fall asleep crying.

It was driving Star crazy. She knew Colleen. She phoned her and begged her to do something.

"I have arranged a reception for her at Venus Ring," said Colleen. I could tell by Colleen's face that she had been crying too. She cut the conversation short.

I was searching through the early histories. I found out about Armann and Iscar almost by accident. There was an article about the new phenom of Joining. Armann and Iscar had been the first.

"Ani Ara Ng, I am here to take you home." From a short distance, I looked Iscar over. This tall proud woman was the daughter of the founder, Gordon Singh. Her dark skin was almost as black as Colleen's, her hair straight long and black. She had the same smile as her mother.

Armann Redcloud stood still, some distance behind Iscar. He is much older than her, a rough scared face and a slightly lopsided stance. I could feel the harmony between them. Iscar was holding a hand out.

"Please be careful, I am sick of always being sent away," I said.

"Come with us," she took my hand and we found our route out to the station port. Armann stood close and protective behind us, as we exited into the crowd of people waiting. We moved passed the relatives and friends of passengers still on the ship.

"We are going to have you live in the Redcloud Compound," said Iscar. "Armann and his wife Susan live there with some of the Joined. There are more that 70 Joined in Venus Ring. But you are the only one that we know of, Joined more than once. Two bad we didn't know sooner."

Many of them, met us entering the corridor, near their compound. A cheer went up, as they caught site of me. The courtyard was very large and airy. Children were everywhere.

I looked about, shook a few hands and generally liked what I saw.

"Please feel that this is your home," said Iscar. "We have an apartment set aside for you and a tutor of your own age. If you want other arrangements please just ask."

"I am very happy with everything. Please, my thanks to everyone, for doing so much," I said.

I took a look in the apartment. Iscar followed. It was all very comfortable. I went to the bedroom and sat for a moment on the large bed. Soon I was fast asleep.

Iscar said, looking down as Ani lay sleeping. "You must be very special. To move Colleen like that. My mother never shed a tear for me."

When I awoke, a comforter was covering me. The wall clock said 8:00 am. By the bed were new clothes, cotton underwear, some jeans, a tee-shirt and thong sandals. I washed up in a small bathroom, the shower rained a fine mist of clean warm vitality into my skin. I felt my mind coming alive with possibilities. I walked out into the courtyard, not knowing what to expect. Roses were planted in large pots about the walls. The vines crawled up to the second floor level, flowers bloomed in many colours. The smell was very strong. At one end, children sat at a long oval table. I headed in that direction.

Three boys, one about my age. He looked seriously in my direction. He stood to greet me.

"Good morning, Ani. I am Siggur, this is Robert and Lenny. Please sit down. I will get you something to eat. We have cooked cereal, coffee, lime juice, pancakes, and toast," said Siggur.

"And you are the son of Ting, daughter of Armann," I said. "Please, nothing for me."

"They say I look like Grampa." He disappeared into the kitchen and came out with juice and toast.

"You have more than two minds inside?" said the bright younger boy, Lenny. "I have only Mama and me. She says good morning to you."

"And your mother must be Yan, sister of Ting. I am happy to be among so many like myself," I said. "This coffee is delicious. How old are you, Siggur?"

"I was born in the same year and month as you."

"Are you my chaperone?"

"Tutor. We are to show you the station, over the next few weeks, or at least a sample of it. Canada Station is very large and complex."

"Thank you. I am very interested."

"Do you like astronomy? Mama says you did a lot of studying on the flight out," said Siggur.

"Yes, I have passed some courses, given by the Farside Observatory Complex," I explained.

"Did you take the one, where they speculate about the fractal structure of the universe?"

"Yes. They think things are much older, because we are basing all our calculations on too small a sample. Maybe 1,000 billion years old," I said.

"We only see a small whirlpool in the ocean of the cosmos," said Siggur. "That was the course with Francis Hawking."

"Why do you study Astronomy?" I asked.

"They are training me for nano engineering, but my hobby is astronomy."

"Do you think they could train me for a real job? I can't go back to the old one."

"There is always demand for robot programmers. Everything is being done with bots."

"I have done some software studies. Is there still coffee? Just show me where it is and I can help myself."

I stood up and walked into the kitchen, he was close behind me. I could tell that he liked me. I was very impressed with him as well. His brown cheeks went pink, when he saw me looking into his eyes.

"We are only turning twelve years," he said. "We had best not be thinking about this."

"You are Joined to a girl?" I asked him.

"Yes, Alma. She wants to say that she likes you."

"How old is she?"

"Alma is sixteen. She got married last year."

"So you already understand what a marriage is." I stated.

"Siggur, when are we going to the park?" asked Robert from the doorway.

I loved the station. It was built with four wheels on a single hub. Millions of people lived here and there was room for many more. The Saskatchewan Wheel with its fields of grain, BC Wheel with its high granite mountains and deep river valleys, Laurentian Wheel with its thick temperate forests and many small lakes so full of fish. We left the Nova Scotia Wheel to the last.

Siggur helped me set up my Internet account and showed me all the new features, with the latest electronic devices. Venus Ring had the best of everything.

He called me princess. There was no doubt about his devotion to me but he was very honourable.

"Did your mother warn you about me. About my other life on Earth."

"No. No. She said I must make you comfortable, answer your questions. For the next six months I am your servant." Siggur said.

"And I am driving you crazy," I answered.

"That is my fault, not yours."

"Do you want to marry me?" I asked. I could not help myself. At that moment, this was the man for me. He left the room without another word. About an hour later, Yan and her husband Nemo Lyle came in. I was thinking, this is the end of my life. There is nowhere else they could send me.

"He is a feeling person. And when he feels something, he can not hide it."

"I know he loves me. I treasure that very much," I replied.

"You need time to recover from your past," said Yan.

"I need someone to love me the way Siggur loves me. Never have I had that. It always blows up in my face."

"You have been here only three months. Give it more time."

"You know we are very compatible. We have many of the same interests. It would go well if we marry." I was begging them.

"Do you not want to meet other young men?" asked Nemo.

"The prospects are not good. I should only marry one who is already Joined. Siggur is the only one close to my age and available."

"Will you cool it for a few days, while we consult with some of the others?" asked Yan.

Siggur was back the next day. He obviously had made a decision with support from his partner, Alma. We worked for a few hour on some school work.

"You going to take care of me, Siggur? . . ." The moment hung quiet. " I am a difficult woman. I will need space to get over my life on Earth." His love was radiating from him, it filled the room and entered my heart. He was standing behind me, as I typed out an assignment. His arms folded around me. He kissed me on the top of the head.

"With this kiss, I thee wed," he said. I was speechless. That this feeling existed in the universe and I had never known until now. " Alma welcomes her new sister." He spoke out loud for his Joined partner. " She says there are hundreds of young men waiting to meet you. That I better not hesitate, our I will loose you."

"That is brave of you to tell me. I think you will do just fine." I stood and faced him so we could hold each other. My forehead touched his chin.

"Siggur are we going out today?" asked Robert. He is taller now, standing in the doorway. Seven years old.

I disentangled myself. "I thought we were going to Nova Scotia?" I said.

Soon we were on our way, with a picnic basket full of goodies. Walking the highlands we found our way to the shore of Bras D'or, the lake that was really an inland sea full of sea creatures. We sat near the beach, on a sturdy bench, watching the boys playing in the shallow water.

Siggur sat beside me, his arm about my shoulder, I cuddled up close. Never have I cuddled before. Never have I felt so warm and safe before. My partner, Star, on Luna, congratulated me. She said, that soon, she would be coming to Venus Ring.

My friend from primary school grudgingly gave me a mental kiss. Jim Kennedy in Germany, thought it the most beautiful moment of his life.

The children played with great screaming and energy, in the salty water and ran wildly across the rocky beach. Not far down played three young girls. They wore the standard bikini bottoms for girls under nine. Their parents sat nearby, on a blanket spread on the grass. I could sense that they were new to Venus Ring.

"They have not been here more than a week," said Siggur. He was about to add something when the tallest girl child, very blond, thin, a serious type, she just stopped moving. Robert who was passing near, also stopped. They were not touching.

"This is the first time I have seen it happen to someone else," said Siggur. He was very relaxed.

Siggur took over as events progressed. "Alma is reminding me to keep you away from the girls. Can you go ahead with Lenny. I will talk to the parents. Tell our people, we will all be along soon."

I made my way back up to the road, consulted the map and with Lenny, we found our way back to the Redcloud Compound.

"Mama has already put out the call. They are locating all my cousins, who are unjoined," said. Lenny. "They think the other girls are receptive?" I asked.

"Oh, they are. Robert did not even touch the big girl. Maybe the parents are receptive too."

It took us about half an hour to return. I was asked to go into my room, when the new family arrived. I watched from the window. Sitting back in an armchair. I saw how overcome with surprise, the new family were to be received with such welcome, from these important Venus families. They accepted tea and cookies from the children. Each child brought a different sort, to the three girls and their confused but delighted parents. I watched as the two younger girls Joined with Tara and Sara, twin girls of Yan, Lenny's mother.

The mother was just starting to understand the explanation of what was happening, when she Joined with the eldest daughter, Ride, of Gould and Sally. The beach girl's father was sipping his tea when a young man of five approached him with some chocolate chip cookies. Armstrong found his way onto the man's knee and into his heart.

About an hour into the party, I was given the ok.

Everyone seemed quite happy with the outcome. Especially the father, who had despaired of ever having a son.

"Have you done it this way before?" I asked Siggur.

"Not a whole family. That is a rare event," said Siggur. "We now only have five unjoined and they are all under four. When do we start our family?" he asked me.

"That is what you want me for? Just to produce these children?"

"The more the better. I will love you twice as much when you're pregnant."

Lenny was listening to us. "Maybe you will have a boy like me," he said.

Life is full of complications. This was one I could not face. I wanted a smooth and uneventful life with my Siggur.

But life is not simple and is not predictable. This, our marriage, was the first between two people, each Joined with others. I don't know any easy way of saying it. August 16th 2102. A special day. Many were there to mark the event. The new Joined girls carried our flowers. Lenny carried the rings. We married each other, before the representative of the council.

We went back to Bras D'or lake. Used a cottage set aside for newly weds. Some say I look ten years old now. My hair has grown long and strait. Siggur will spend an hour brushing it, if I let him. He shows me every day, how much he loves me.

When we came back, Susan came over for a consultation. She is very nice, not like a doctor. She was very happy to know that it was her brother, Terry, that gave me the assistance, when I needed to get out of Toronto.

"I can not talk to him directly," said Susan. "They might become suspicious, if he gets calls from space. He has helped hundreds of people out of Toronto, to the SpacePort."

She talked to me about a program they had for women, who have had sexual diseases. "We have cured the diseases but not the damage. I would never have kept this from you, except I know it can be fixed. "

"You think I might have rejected Siggur, if I could not have children. I am not that selfless." I stated.

"I understand. He is a great kid. But you are going to have a change in your diet. It will be good to start your cooking studies. You will be taking your turn in the kitchen."

"I have worked in kitchens before. I will be glad to take my turn," I replied.

She gave me a few recipes and herbal supplements to repair my damaged tubes. I had to go to the local clinic once a week for tests and images.

I dreamed of a day, when I could work with the new Observatory Complex being built for the Polytechnic. It was to stand in orbit, always on the dark side of Venus, protected from the Sun's blinding rays. I asked Nemo Lyle, more than once, if some day I could work there.

He arranged that I could develop projects for the Observatory. He even allowed Siggur to work with me when he wasn't away.

As a couple, we were receiving a respectable wage. Siggur and I decided to get real serious about our hobby. We leased a Hewlett 3000 supercomputer and parked it into a corner in our living room. Monitors and interfaces decorated the walls, covered all flat surfaces and hung from the ceiling. When everything seemed to be connected and working we went into a software somadhi.

We modeled, we speculated, on many types of star systems. We investigated ways of discovering planetary systems like ours. We complimented each other in our abilities.

I have two lovely baby girls, Lindsey and Fenelon. They Joined at conception or soon after that. This does not seem to have made their development any more difficult. I am now afraid of having a single child. Siggur does a good job of keeping me grounded. The cousins have taken over the care of my babies. I put so much on their plate. I am often immersed in problems for the observatory. Siggur keeps a mental tally of how much time is fair for the babies and the children caretakers.

I now have two sweet boys, Toronto and Barrie, black haired and gruff looking like their father. They are perfectly normal, not Joined. I think Lenny is disappointed in me. He wants someone like himself. He is now seven and getting old.

Siggur is manager of a section of the station where certain types of miniature chips are designed. I am not allowed to know the details. A new generation Siggur says. Two years ahead of the opposition, meaning Earth and Earth Ring.

We also used some free time to check out the new scopes, before they go into scheduled use on Venus darkside. They reach deep into uncharted spaces between galaxies and regions of dark matter. We found traces of material, with qualities unknown to the world before. The world is our oyster and we search thoroughly for all sign of gems.

I conceived yesterday. I know because I lived it. It was the most amazing feeling. Nothing I can say, would help in describing it. I have Lenny and Yan to talk to, my sanity should be assured. Siggur will have to take over the children, for a while, I am hopelessly muddled. Lenny is very happy that he will have a friend.

Yvette is doing fine and so am I. Lenny is devoted to her. He spends every spare moment playing with her. He was there for her first steps.

Siggur has been taking us on many trips about the station, there are usually ten children in our parade, counting child minders.

Our Canada station has sparked a vast industrial revolution for Venus Ring. Every station is finding space, that can be turned into vacuum enhanced industrial space, to produce the new chips needed by Earth and all the new settlements.

I have talked with Susan about getting pregnant again. I do not want to join again with my own child. I would never give up the experience I have had with my beloved Yvette, but done that, been there. Susan says, I can discontinue my herbal supplements, and eat anything I like. If I am really serious then Siggur or I must take some action.

I am pregnant again. Twins, a boy and a girl, Mars and Venus, they are normal and not Joined. I would know if there was a problem. This is the last. I feel that these children are not going to get my attention, the way the others did. I will be twenty-one when they are born. I am tired and want to do other things with my life. It is time to put my foot down. Siggur will get fixed and I will stay monogamous. That should do the trick.

I do a lot of traveling about with my children. Fenelon and Lindsey are six years. They are already Joined, but because they are mine, anything can happen. Toronto and Barrie are five, the roughest and freest boys I have ever seen. But Barrie is very manageable, when Toronto is not around.

Toronto is never manageable. To contain them in the compound courtyard is a constant struggle. They need a whole forest to wander in. Yvette is always with Lenny, who is now turning fifteen.

Star Chung has joined my family. She is a much different person from the one I met as a child on Luna. She works as caregiver of my children and I am happy with her work.

It all happened so fast. I should have been told it was in the planning. We were walking through forest, above where Montreal would be on Earth. My boy Toronto was lost and again we have to send Star and Lenny out for a search. During this time, we stay put in a mountain meadow, by a small bubbling brook. I laid back in the cool moss and closed my eyes. The buzzing of the bees and flies, the singing of the sparrows and finches, put me to sleep.

A burst of surprise came from Lindsey and woke me up. In the middle of the meadow stood a young woman and her three children, one boy nine and two girls six and eight.

Fenelon had Joined with the boy, I figured all this out later. Barrie Joined with the mother. Well you get the drift. The father soon arrived with an eleven year old girl. They all Joined but Toronto. The lost child returned with his pursuers.

Do you think he was happy. It put everyone on edge. I had Star take him ahead while we all proceeded slowly back to Redcloud Compound. We explained as well as possible, what was happening, to our new guests. Yan got word through to Lenny and made the contacts needed for the gathering.

God, is life not complex enough, without this Joining?

With all the new research we have been doing, it was bound to turn up an anomaly sooner or later. I was going over a list of eleven iffy objects out beyond the asteroid belts and comet gardens. Almost twelve light years passed Pluto's orbit. One turned out to be moving consistently in the direction of Earth. I tagged it so the equipment kept track of it's hourly movement. Within two months the object shifted in the way only a spacecraft could shift. It was now on course for Venus.

"I think we have just witnessed, an alien race changing it's mind," said Siggur.

"You mean they would rather talk to us, or they find us easier to wipe out?" I questioned.

"I don't know. But they will be here in two years, at the speed they are traveling."

Earth soon had the sightings as well. They were not happy with developments. Talk shows and news anchors questioned incessantly about the possibility of a conspiracy between Venus Ring and the aliens. They are aliens with high technology. We have no ships a thousand kilometres long and 25 km across.

"I suppose I should be fearful, but I do not feel that way. What lies ahead, only excites me and fills me with hope. " I said.

"People are people," said Siggur. " No matter what they look like or from where they come from." Iscar MacNeal said. " Luna is supporting us, whatever we do. Mars is just watching and staying informed. Earth is seething with resentment. It could get nasty, if Earth decides to unify around the alien contact with Venus Ring."

I have had some time to talk with Iscar MacNeal, these last few days. She was the central figure in Luna's break with Earth. What a fine, if strange, woman. She is reaching a hundred. Says she does not understand why she is still here.

"When I reached seventy I was ready to leave this realm. But God gave me a reprieve."

"Are you afraid of the Joined?" I asked.

"I am jealous, young woman and I think many are. You might think your short life has been tough, but you can share your victories and failures in a way no one else can. I am envious because I think these aliens have come to see you."

---

Imagine, the orbital ring of Earth about the Sun. Take a place directly opposite Earth, on the other side of the Sun. That is where the rendezvous is. That is only a three week journey from us, in Venus Ring. Because of the position of Venus. A fleet of ships have sailed out from Venus orbit. The Kuros ship has settled at the designated sight. They report, no other foreign ships near their position.

We are ten Joined on our central ship. The ten have been chosen, but anyone may change their minds up to the last minute.

It will be, Ani Ara, Toronto, Yvette, Iscar Singh, Robert, Lenny, Siggur, Robin, Joseph and Ting. We knew on reaching the long silver cylinder, what to looked for. As the ship parked near an open bay, an arm reached out and tugged us in.

We, the ten, left the ship and followed a bot with a screen saying "FOLLOW ME, Good Guests".

The hallways were utilitarian, but clean. We hopped on a service lift, and road up to the main agricultural level. The cylinder turns on an axis of twelve kilometres radius, and creates a gravity, of one third of a gee. Parts of the cylinder can rotate independently.

As the lift stopped. We were greeted by a group of young Kuros people. They stood a good distance to not cause us discomfort. My first reaction was one of relief. I thought simply, "I can live with this."

There was little delay before we were standing before them. They have four digits on feet and hands. A basic human body structure. Broad high face with dark skin and large human eyes. A thick flat nose and thin mouth and straight teeth. They are generally thin with little body strength, little body hair and a casual stance.

We were told that our greeters, will be well trained in English but will not be receptives.

"We welcome you-all to our Kuros Station. We want you-all to feel at home."

"Iscar stepped forward and said. "We are happy to be hear and welcome our guests to the Solar System of Humans."

Several formal remarks were exchanged and we were told that each of us would pair-up with a Kuros person in the ten floating cars waiting nearby.

"We want to give you a tour, of part of our station, while we go to meet with other Kuros people wishing to see you."

I climbed into a car with only two seats. A young woman, who introduced herself as Rose, sat in beside me. The seats were turned toward each other so we could talk and see each other. She wore a simple summer dress that reached passed her knees and her straight black hair was tied back with a golden clip.

"We have waited many years for your race to mature," said Rose.

"Have we reached your expectations?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. We are very impressed with the signs of peacefulness on Luna and Venus. We felt for a long time that Humans were all hostile to us aliens."

"You asked especially for the Joined when you contacted us a year ago."

"I am not in a position to talk about our plans for the Joined. I am a greeter and a tour guide," said Rose.

"This Station has great similarities to our giant stations in Venus Ring."

"We have mostly the same needs. After housing and education, we need food, so the station is mostly agricultural. As you see we have plains and hills and mountains. Our food might seem a bit strange to you but our bodies have the same nutritional needs," said Rose.

"And after that, we need good friends and companions," I said.

Rose's lips rose at the corners in what must be a smile.

"We need that, as much as food." Rose replied.

We were now moving quickly through an old forest, rich in nut trees.

I reached out to touch her hand. She grasped mine gently. It felt a little cool, but normal.

"How old is your people?" I asked.

"Very old, by your standards. We have been in space for more than four million years. Before that our development was a slow ten million. We have a detailed written history. In the last year many have been working on an English translation, for your people's use."

"I will look forward to studying it. Was it your people that left the coal on Luna." I asked.

"An ancestor. Our race made some major genetic changes during that period. They diverged in a number of directions."

"What change happened here?" I asked carefully.

"I am not permitted to give details. It is mentioned in the history. We borrowed genetic material from your early people. We gave them some direction in payment," she mentioned.

"And left the deposits for any Lunar and Mars explorers." I added.

"It was the least we could do. We are now very close genetically with your race."

"So there are other reasons for your return. You-all have not come just to help us." I asked.

I let go of her hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"Your race may not need any help. Your riches and administrative success has made you-all a powerful force," said Rose.

We now traveled next to a large sea, with many fish and other creatures splashing about. Birds swooped overhead and crabs and other less recognizable creatures scurried about the sandy beach.

"Do your people Join?" I asked.

"We have not done so in a long time. We started to Join within a few centuries of leaving your system. It is probably a trait acquired from Humans."

"But you have receptives. You are planning for us Joining with your receptives."

"It is entirely up to you. We will even give you a number of character profiles to choose from. That is where we are going now. You strike me as being intelligent. You must have known what our intentions were. "

"Yes, but what is your politics. Is there honesty at all levels of Kuros society. You must understand, why I am being suspicious."

"Your Earth government is a mess. We saw that from the signals that we received over the last hundred years," said Rose.

The car was slowing, moving into a finely landscaped park with a large opaque tent in a clearing. There, we stopped, left the car and entered into a grand lobby area. A reception place for us to relax in. Washrooms and couches were provided and a full side board of Kuros fruit and nuts. Cold fruit drinks and a tea type of beverage.

Rose stayed near Ani. "Ani. I have grown to like you very much in the last two hours. We may never see each other again and I just wanted to tell you how much I value these brief hours."

Ani fold her arms about the alien woman.

"This is how we express our love. You have an open invitation to come and stay with us on Canada Station. That is when your people are officially allowed to come." I kissed her brown smooth cheeks and held her tight. Rose also responded.

She says into my ear. "I know now that our people will grow to love one another. Please accept my love."

The others were in active conversations and even laughing as eating and relaxing continued.

Iscar came over and asked if I would be willing to join with a Kuros. I said yes.

After a while we were each taken to a room, where profiles would be presented of receptives willing to join. I asked for Rose, to choose the nicest woman.

"But we were planning on men and women Joining. More can be learned that way."

"Would you want to join to a Human male? I would really prefer to join with you." Rose flushed pink under the light brown of skin of her cheeks.

"I will have to talk to someone and get right back to you." she explained.

Rose left in a rush and returned after about twenty minutes.

"They were not happy to change these plans," she chose an older woman, who might be in her sixties. "Why that one?" I asked.

"I respect her very much. She is a good friend of the family." Rose said. "You can call her Violet."

Each of the ten had similar experiences. We had agreed on the trip to choose to join with our own sex. It just made more sense.

Violet came into the room and we immediately Joined. It was like flipping a switch. I stood looking at her. Violet fainted.

Rose rushed to her and I helped to put her up on a couch.

"This is unfortunate. Please accept my apologies."

"Please, I saw what it was that caused her so much pain. I am a special case, with a difficult past. She was shocked by an image, I thought as we merged. I will be more careful, when she awakes," I said.

Yvette had Joined to a young woman. I felt her pleasure and the woman's surprize at me there watching. "Your people did not prepare well enough for the Joining. It is a bit of a rush job. " I commented to Rose.

The woman, Violet, awoke and I felt her fear. "Please forgive me. I thought that you knew my past. I will mask my thoughts, as well as I can, until you can learn about me."

Her demeanor was stabilizing. It took all of Violets will, not to pull back and go into a catatonic state. Her whole body was shaking.

"Please Violet," explained Rose. "I know I am not Joined to her, but I chose you, because I figured you could be good for each other. I already know that I love the human. Whatever was in her past, that is not her character now."

"You were not to do the choosing." Violet said to Rose. "Yes, I know you asked her," she said to me. "Is Seed your daughter?" I asked Violet by word.

"Yes. How do you know. You are Joined to your daughter. I did not know. You are Joined to several others."

"Two lives on Earth, one in my compound and one that died. I think the Joining long ago killed him," I explained.

"Your insistence on Joining with the same sex. It caused us to become unprepared," said Violet.

"I thought your people always planned for any contingency?" I asked.

"Well, it seems logic went out the window, with these plans. We had no way to prepare for the strength of the Joining. A complete union of everything."

"You can keep your memories secret, if you don't think them, or wait until the other is sleeping." I mentioned.

"I am embarrassed for our people. Not a good start." apologized Rose.

"You can keep your thoughts to yourself, young woman," said Violet.

"Please Violet. She is my friend. You do not realize how fast we make friendships and how strong and long they are. Rose is going to move in with us as soon as possible."

"I know how you are feeling now. It is not allowed in our society," she was being very judgmental.

"You are too fast in your judgments. Please wait for a while and see how thoughts, do not always make actions. I am sure Rose is having many of the same thoughts and I don't mind. We will use this to cement our friendship. Along with the thoughts, our lives are bound to our society and society governs our actions."

"Please forgive me. I will try to suspend judgment." Violet said. "But my job, you know I have been a judge and a councilor for years. "

"Well welcome to my world, Violet. I hope everything is downhill from here," I said.

We walked out into the reception area, I holding Rose's hand.

Most had finished the Joining. Toronto was with a stern young fellow, probably a military man. He seemed quite surprises but happy, Yvette was with her confused young woman. Each of the others seemed to be doing fine. I was pleased to talk to Iscar.

"I had no idea that I was able to join again," said Iscar. "All the experiences with Armann has helped me with this one," she stood next to a eight year old girl with big admiring eyes.

"It is like becoming a mother again." Tears ran down her cheeks. The girl was rapping her arms around Iscar's waist.

"I think we need to spend time here and then get the council to allow us to bring the Joined Kuros back with us," I said.

"Definitely Ani. It would be too difficult for some of us to be separated. They must see us in our own environment also, to understand why we do certain things."

"Any excuse in a storm." Rose was laughing, Iscar, the child and I had to laugh.

"There is no turning back," said Violet.

* * *

"How does distance affect the Joined." I asked Violet one day.

"It affects clarity. Over a number of light-years the Joining is not easy to focus. By fifty light-years it is about impossible," she was recalling history gleaned from the records.

We stayed for a period of three months. I learned the Kuros history from Violet and through Seed, who was Joined to Yvette. I read some of the translations, watched three-D Vids and experience the feelings of many important moments in their history. We provided files for the Venus Ring station experts to study. Much programming they would not have received because of our narrow band transmissions. The council gave the go-ahead to bring a larger delegation of standard Humans and the rest of the Joined.

The Kuros made a request to Venus Ring and the surface council asking for permission to settle seven million Kuros in an unused area of Venus. A month passed and because of all the good reports they started moving off the ship. Human's were welcomed to move into 'Hope Station', the Alien ship, because there was plenty of room. The wish was that our young people would respond to there young people as positively as the Joined did. I refused to leave until I had permission to take Violet and Rose back with me. After three month away from my other children, we received the word.

I got a surprize on return. I was no longer under restriction. I could go anywhere I wished.

My babies had grown so much in my absence.

The discussion of sex and marriage between species was on everyone's minds. Reports from Earth said that we had already done so, and created monsters in the process. The Kuros gestation period is eight months. We had not done any mating for the first three months. I was fairly sure about that. And it has only been eight months since the Rendezvous.

The Kuros women have wide hips and an easier time of bearing children. I think this is an engineered development, some time in their past, their women had control of genetic reconstruction for women.

The Kuros Station has been renamed by us, Hope Station. Our people have moved in to the number of 200,000. Another 100,000 have rushed out from Luna station. Only people living on Luna, more than twenty years, or born there, are allowed to move to Hope.

The Kuros say they will start building another station like Hope. This new one will continue on to another planetary system, they have deep in their records. They emphasis that most of the materials used, will come from asteroids and comet materials. They also wish to do mining on Mercury. [see Mercury]

They will get their permission and, I assume, will so intermarry with our people, that when the new station reaches it's next destination, the new race will not know that this is more than a single species. This got me searching the histories. They had done this at least twice before in their travels. I think we have to expect these histories are slanted and cleaned up. They give no details of the other races.

I have learned much from my new mother. Violet finally understands the difficulties of my youth. She has taken me into her confidence and I am sure I have learned much from her, that the Kuros would not have me know.

"We are one people now, Ani. I did not understand the meaning of Joining before. The strength of love, our love and the fact that we are all in this together. My people are angry with me. But what can they do. The same has happened with all the other Joinings."

"It gave Lenny the thing he wanted most of his life. Now he has permission to marry Yvette, by way of marrying her Joined companion, Seed. It will probably be a very stable marriage."

"I had no idea that you would take all these events, with such casualness. We have thought of the Joining time in our history, as a time of the Gods," said Violet.

"Now you know it isn't so," I said. "Are you sad Rose is going to be leaving us?"

"A little. She is so happy to be moving to Luna. She did not do so bad. A grandson of Ghita MacNeal."

"And she is part of the first mixed group to Luna," I said.

"Only married Kuros allowed." Thought Violet.

"We are in there. That is all that matters."

I don't think of human and Kuros as being separate races. My sense of self is becoming more like Violet's. Her character is much more fixed because she has had only herself inside for so long. I value that fixed feeling. She thinks of herself as very loose and torn, because of the jolts, our Joining has caused her.

"Just love me Ani. I never realized how alone I was until we met." Thought Violet.

I was able to pull a surprize on Violet. It is just a year now since we have been together. I also noticed the men, that she found attractive. She had been married once, for over thirty years. He divorced her when she decided to participate in the Joining.

"We would probably be together if he knew, at the time, that I would be Joining with a woman," thought Violet out loud.

"He did not deserve you. You can do better here on the station." Ani replied.

The next time we met with the Saskatchewan Wheel council, I let Violet know that I approved of her choice. She was in the middle of a speech and I made her stumble over her words.

"You got to be crazy. Is he not married?" asked Violet.

"No, has been single all his life. He has many public duties and is mostly married to them."

"How old is he? "

"He is forty four," I said.

"Too young. I am too old for him." Thought Violet.

I went up to Elvis George and talked to him after the meeting. We did not know each other well. I asked him to come to dinner the following day. He could not refuse. Very few people every refused an invitation to dinner in our compound.

Violet and Rose had shared a small apartment, but now Violet lived alone. All the gang were around at dinner. I and Yvette were cooking chili and we made a large salad with sweet peppers and many greens. Elvis was quite disoriented with the inter-Joining and inter-marriages in the compound. There were a few conversations going on without any words being spoken.

"Please forgive us, Elvis. We also find it difficult to figure out what is going on," I said.

Violet was all dressed up, looking her best, which was very good indeed. I arranged that they sat across from each other. I kept quiet during table talks, so Violet could keep focused. I did push her to say what was on her mind, a couple of times. The others were quite aware, of what was going on. They were all in on the trap.

"It must be difficult for you. Being away from your people this last year." Elvis said.

"Well, I am not missing them. I feel like I have just found them here. You people live very exciting and emotional lives. I have learned to like that way of thinking."

"But, we must be unattractive to you. Our noses so big and our girth a bit wide." He indicated that he had put on a few kilo.

"Not from where I am sitting. Humans are very attractive." Violet said. I thought she might loose him there. "But you must find it hard to see the beauty in a Kuros face?"

"Violet. You are very beautiful and I am not ashamed to say that, in front of this maddening group."

When dinner was over, they needed no pushing, to get them together. They were both public people. They were used to being observed by others. Soon Ani lost site of them, as Violet invited him for a walk, up on the Prairie.

I thought in my innermost thoughts that there would be problems. There are problems, but they are political.

The children are coming. Twins are the standard with Kuros women and Human men. The children seem to go one way or the other and few traits are blended. Their minds are more human than Kuros. More short term thinking, few are worrying about the future.

The question of religion has arisen and been mostly dealt with. The Kuros are a monotheistic people. They had a exemplar, about four hundred years ago. He shaped their world and coloured there approach to interstellar exploration. He was called Fen Lon, the Friend of God. His teachings are very close to the exemplars of Earth. He taught them to see the people of the galaxy as, all of one family. He said he appears to men of all planets and that life permeates the universe. In their studies and travels they have found it so.

Many Humans have accepted the teachings of Fen Lon as equal to the teachers, Christ, Muhammad and Baha'u'llah.

Lenny and Seed have three girl children. They are my favourite people. The twins Flower and Blossom and the younger baby Sprout. Flower is always following me about.

I miss Rose and Violet. Violet has gone off with Elvis and they are planning to marry. They mostly just enjoy each other's company. Rose has her own children, twin boys, born on Luna.

Blossom has attached herself to Yvette. Even though she is barely nine, Yvette has been acting very adult like, lately. That is only to be expected. I have asked Seed to try to be more child like for Yvette's sake. I have also noticed how older boys have been looking at her lately. She probably has some of the qualities that got me in trouble, when I was that age. I have all the cousins keeping an eye on her. Of course, I always know exactly what she is doing, but things do get a bit complex with five people living inside. Sorry six, I forgot myself.

Star has taken on the care of my youngest. Mars and Venus are the most mysterious persons I know. Being born, Joined in your fifth month, then Joining again with Aliens, when you are four. I could have spared them the second Joining. But then I heard of the Kuros twins, on the surface. They were also young, only five at the time. Their grandmother is a friend of Violet's. She knows the family well. She praised them so, I could not refuse. Violet arranged that the family come up for a visit.

My boy, Joined with the Kuros the girl and Venus, Joined with the boy. Everyone seemed to be happy. I really think that when we Join with a Kuros, that is the final Joining, so it made sense to 'seal off' my children. Only time will tell. The Kuros receptives are so absorbing, that there is no chance for escape. Humans are more level minded.

If you don't know the history of Venus Ring and The Kuros Rendezvous, then you might find this story of mine a little far fetched. You can now look to Zaire and Haiti and see how countries can be transformed by adopting the administrative structure that we also borrowed.

I am getting on in years. 102 years old and I am feeling like 70. To be here throughout all this change, it is easy to understand people born at the beginning of the 20th Century and looking back from the year 2000. To start with just a few tunnels in the ground on Luna and end with a great marrying off to interstellar civilizations in one century. What can the future bring?

Eighty-two years from now, Hope II, will reach it's destination and contact a civilization just entering the Space Age. On that ship are one million of human people married to Kuros men and women. Already they have over one million children making the total population of the ship six million. They will have to govern there birthrate on route, because the ship only has a capacity of fourteen million. Many of my great grandchildren are on route, and children that I have known on our small station of AMAN.

The Venus development has gained tremendously from Kuros technology. The atmosphere is now fully stabilized. There are plans to remove the great solar reflector, because there are methods, to extract heat from the atmosphere and use it as an energy source. We will not see the day the poles have icecaps. But if a man wants 20 C daytime temperatures he will find them near the poles. Water sources have increased with the help of Kuros bot ships. They are pulling in comets and asteroids at three times our previous rate. It will not be long before rain will be common right around the planet.

Venus has set up new towns where young Kuros and Humans can work and meet. These towns are based on reforestation, mining, artist communities, biological stations, agriculture and animal husbandry farms. Some rivers are being turned into canals for movement of supplies and produce. A bit slow but we have begun to question our hurry. That must be a sign of satisfaction.

The Venus surface population is close to 40 million. And at the present rate in a hundred years there will be 640 million. Most of them mixed Human and Kuros. Obviously it will not be that high. But what would you guess? 300 million? Perhaps, but not any less.

I know that Earth has accepted Kuros into its society and many of the mixed children. Yet there is yet no sign of accepting them to the point of giving them all the rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I mean accepting them as Humans.

We have done that. It has also made it much easier for the Joined. They are now accepted into every social level. It has been declared that Joining is of great benefit to those Joined and of great cultural value to Venus Society.

Venus Ring has a population of 40 million. Two more cylinders like Hope I. have been built to accommodate our growing crop of youth. Careful positioning in Venus orbit was necessary in order not to cause instability on the surface. Most of the materials were gathered from mining on Mercury and asteroid collections.

We expect a leveling of population growth in Venus Ring in the next twenty years, once our condition becomes somewhat stabilized. If we have more visitors, things could again become unsettled.

I asked the leaders of the Hope II expedition if they would send a ship back to us after they are successful. These leaders include Venus and Elvis, Lenny and Seed, so I found it very easy to talk to them.

Their journey is eleven light years distance. They figure that if all goes right, the Yadun, will be under some kind of an agreement, within ten years of arrival. And maybe another ten years, before a ship can be built to return. So that would be 55 years before we see them after their arrival. Or adding the thirty-two years remaining, they won't get back to us before 87 years or 2213.

I know I will not be around, but I will be watching. My faith has been confirmed by the teachings of Earth's exemplars and The Kuros exemplar, Fen Lon. It is evident that spiritual messages come, all from the same source. I will be in the next room, keeping an eye on my children. But I will not miss out on all the wonderful events of the next world. Just a glance back here every month or so should may be enough to keep me up to date. I am starting to think like an old man.

-- End --

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