"Not as much as you might think Steve, but in any case, we have more than enough power here, and we're only running half of the generators."
"Wow, I must say I'm impressed. General Hammond was a real visionary, it's a pity he's not here to see its fulfilment."
Several hours later everyone gathered back at Lark's entrance and returned to the surface. "It's getting late," Steve said, "we'll meet tomorrow at 10-am for those reports."
The company split up and went to their respective apartments. Steve and Clare took a stroll around the lab section. Kay had done a really good job, it would all be operational within the next couple of days.
"You've been very restrained Sweetie," Steve said to Clare, as they headed to their apartment.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't told me about your plants."
"Ah, I see, well you'll just have to come and look for yourself." She answered, a little smugly.
❧
Tea at the Foresters was its usual mix of fun and bedlam. Shelley had volunteered to say grace and boldly launched out with, "Dear big daddy, thank you for this food and all the wonderful things you've put in those big larders, amen."
Clare had to look away to hide the laughter. Fortunately, Rufus had jumped up onto the sofa, which gave her the excuse she was looking for.
"Rufus, get down!" She hollered. Rufus just looked back at her, bemused, and flopped onto one of the cushions. Steve lost it and burst out laughing, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"O how blest we are," he cried out towards the ceiling.
Tea was wonderful, as usual, but today, a joy had hit them all, together with a sense of peace, that could only be described as supernatural. Steve looked at Clare who was grinning from ear to ear.
"I don't know Hun," she replied to his unasked question.
"I don't know what we did to deserve all this," he said, at length, "but I for one am grateful to be here." Then with eyes closed he mouthed, 'Thank You Lord.'
❧
The next day, all the section heads gathered to bring their reports. Eric had managed to complete the work on one of the unfinished sections of the main dome, a conference room.
"Very nice," Steve commented as they all filed in. "Find a seat everyone and let's begin."
Farming volunteered to go first. "Well," Gareth began, "we seem to have around 50 acres of grazing land, this is what you saw yesterday. Beyond that are another 50 acres with all kinds of vegetables planted, and there's yet another 50 or so acres with fruit trees and bushes. Livestock comes to almost 500 cattle, 1000 sheep, and we weren't able to count the number of chickens and hens. All in all, I'd say we've enough to feed an army...Erm sorry about that, Oh, and there's
some more land that is currently lying fallow."
"Wow," Steve said, "at least we won't starve. Hydro, what about you?"
"It's a similar story here Steve," Sarah said, "we discovered vast ice fields deep down in the mantle, so far, we haven't been able to find the full extent of them. The moon must have been a very wet place some time back. Anyway, the hydro level contains an immense lake of very fresh water. All the necessary equipment is in place to utilise the ice and we even have an evaporation plant capable of generating pure oxygen and hydrogen. One thing we don't seem to have is fish."
"Ok, so we have a sustainable water supply." Steve said,
"Power?" Steve asked.
"Right that's me," Roland answered. "There is a separate lake in the power level, it is used to drive turbines. There are ten in place, but we are only using five of them at present, and we already have more than enough power to sustain all of Lark's systems. MBA has its own plant and so is no drain on Lark. The lake is constantly re cycled so I see no need to tap into our other water resources. Barring things like moon quakes or asteroid strikes, the system is perpetual."
"How about oil?" Steve asked. "Moving parts will need lubrication."
"Ah, that's where I can help," Clare said, "the botanical section has that covered. We have some acres turned over to Rape, or at least a hybrid of it, and corn. According to the files, this hybrid produces ten times as much oil."
"Good," Steve nodded, "then oil is not a problem. What else have you got for us down there?" Ignoring Steve's very pointed smiles, Clare continued, "The botanical section is rather extensive, and I haven't had time to see all of it yet, but how's this for starters: there are two other caverns besides the main one, both too large to see how far they extend. One contains a hybrid of a plant I discovered many years ago that has the ability to convert light into oxygen very efficiently. I would estimate that there's more than a thousand times the amount we need to survive here. Have you noticed how fresh the air is, and how we haven't had to even think about space suits since we've been here?"
There were looks of surprise.
"Me too, but there's more: this plant is also a hybrid of a desert grass that can survive for years with just a couple of drops of water. When given unlimited water it bursts into growth...Explodes would be a better word. This plant is growing at an incredible rate, which means oxygen production is growing at the same rate. I estimate that the Moon will have a breathable atmosphere within twenty years...If only we can get some gravity to hold it here."
"And the other cavern?" Steve reminded her.
"Ah yes, the other cavern. This one seems to be in part, an over- spill for the first one, but there is a vent system, it's closed down, but I think it's been designed to release oxygen to the surface at some future date. Perhaps Bill or Eric will be able to throw more light on that."
"Right, thanks Sweetie, I'll take that up with them directly. Conclusions?" Steve asked. "We seem to have everything we need and in sufficient quantities to live here, well, forever."
"Agreed," Roland added, "you might want to quiz Bill about the other section on the power level. It was sealed so I have no idea what's in there."
"OK, I will. Anything else while we're here?"
Nothing came, so Steve closed the meeting and set off to find Bill. He found him at his post in the command centre tinkering with something.
"What are you up to Bill?" He asked.
"Oh, just adjusting some external sensors," Bill replied. "Our only enemy now is out there," he said pointing into space. "The Moon still gets hit by foreign bodies, and we need to know when and where."
"Hammond really did think of everything didn't he."
"He sure did, we have the most advanced technology ever invented."
"You won't say that when the Martians arrive," Steve joked, and the two men laughed. "Bill, you've given me an idea. I think it would be a smart move to set up quarters in Lark. Then, if a disaster did happen, we wouldn't be stuck on the surface."
"Good idea," Bill agreed, "there are plenty of smaller caverns down there that will do nicely."
"Right," Steve nodded, "I'll get some folks working on that tomorrow. While we're here Bill, a couple of things came up that you might be able to shed some light on."
"Shoot," Bill said, and winced.
"Clare mentioned some vents in cavern three and thought they may be for venting oxygen to the surface."
"Smart lady," Bill said, "she's exactly right. Hammond tried to plan for our future, so he put in place a couple of things that would be needed later. Plant and oxygen growth will reach a point where the caverns will not be able to contain them. When that happens the plan is to start releasing both to the surface. There are already signs that air and moisture are present on the surface, though only in isolated pockets."
"The green mould," Steve said.
"Right, the mould. There will come a time when we will be able to live on the surface without suits, but no one knows exactly how long that will be."
"Clare says about twenty years."
"She's probably right, but it will depend on conditions continuing as they are now."
"Roland asked about the sealed section on the power level."
Bill thought for a moment. "Hmm, that's the biggy Steve, the final frontier if you like. In order to maintain an atmosphere you need gravity, and the Moon doesn't have enough of it. The sealed level contains an experimental system for creating gravity. Vinkle's idea, but he never got it off the ground so to speak."
Steve smiled.
"Word is that the theory is sound, but it may take some years of development before we can try it."
"Well," said Steve, "time is on our side. One other thing Bill, did Hammond provide any transport? Those caverns are huge."
"Of course he did, I told you he thought of everything. There are several electric vehicles on every level."
"I'm humbled Bill, this man was a true genius."
The next day, Steve called everyone together and told them about setting up quarters in Lark. The idea went down well and a team was detailed to make a start on it.
"We'll need labs down there too Kay," he called to her. "And a school house Lisa." Preparations were made to move the main food stocks too. The work began, and time passed.
Chapter Eight
Chapter 8.
The Alarm Sounds
Several months had passed and everyone had settled into their roles in Moon Base Alpha. Steve restarted the work he was engaged in at Star Labs, and Clare continued her research into hybrids. Life was good, and slowly, the brown planet was forgotten.
It was mid afternoon and work was going steadily when an alarm sounded. It was loud and obviously not meant to be missed.
"What in tarnation is that?" Steve cried out, running for the command centre.
"I don't know," Bill said, a little panicked, "let me check."
Steve watched as Bill began scanning the system, the look on his face was not good.
"What is it?" Steve asked, starting to get panicky himself.
"It's trouble Steve, we've got to move fast."
"What do you mean, move Bill?"
"It's a solar flare, an enormous one, and it's heading straight for us."
"How long have we got?"
"About four hours, and then everything on the surface will be toast."
"Right," Steve said, "start transferring control to Lark, I'll tell the troops."
He left to do it.
"Listen everyone," Steve shouted at the top of his lungs, "we have to evacuate the surface, there's a solar flare coming and it'll be here in about four hours. You all know what that means...Radiation. Let's snap to it folks, Lark is about to fulfil its destiny."
Steve had been working on his neural coms system with some success, he pressed the button. "Clare, are you reading me?"
"I certainly am Hun, heard every word, I'm mobilising everyone down here, we'll be with you shortly."
True to her word, Clare emerged from Lark along with all those who had been working down below. Kay had taken charge of the lab, and equipment was being packed and moved. Lisa had all the children busy with small tasks. Everyone pulled together magnificently, and the evacuation was completed with half an hour to spare. Steve, Clare, Bill, and Eric were the last in MBA taking a last look around.
"Will the Bycrylic hold?" Clare asked.
"Sure it will," Steve answered, crossing his fingers. "It'll hold."
With that, they entered the elevator, taking their last look at the Moon's surface as the huge doors closed. "Now you know why they're so thick." Eric said.
"Hammond," Steve and Bill said together.
The descent was like any other, only this time it was one way. "I know this may be a silly question," Clare said, "but just how long will we be down here?"
"What do you think Bill?" Steve asked.
"It's hard to say folks, but somewhere between ten and fifteen years...I've got sensors set to monitor radiation levels, so long as the flare doesn't take them out, so we should know when it's safe again."