"How did you do it?" Jake asked.
"I dropped berry juice into their mouths and blew it in," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I also said a quick prayer..."
Now that they were 'awake' she gave each of them a berry to eat telling them it would do them good.
"Now there's an understatement if ever I heard one." Zeek said, in his own inimitable way.
"Where's the radio Dave? I need to make a call."
"It's out in the shed," he said, pointing the way.
Zeek went out to look for it. He found it in a run down wooden shed that had at one time served as a loo.
"Nice," he muttered, on entering. Picking up the mic he began, "Eden this is Southgate calling, come in over."
There was the usual time delay and then Bill answered.
"This is Eden, is that you Zeek? Over."
"You betcha," Zeek replied, "we've arrived at Southgate, and we were just in time. Dave was the only one still alive, but the berries have worked their miracle and brought the other four back to life."
"Let me get this straight," Bill interrupted, "the other four were dead, and the berries brought them back to life?"
"That's it Bill, Betty did it. She poured some juice into their mouths and blew it into them. They were alive again within five minutes. Tell Steve for us will you. Oh, and by the way, the Southgate community is a single family: Mom, dad, and three kids. We didn't see any other signs of life as we flew around, but will keep you informed as and when things crop up. Over."
"Thanks for that Zeek, I will tell Steve for you, and everyone else. They are all eager to know that you're all right. How did the glider perform? Over."
"Like a dream, Bill, tell the guys back there that they did a great job. The glider flew perfectly, we set down within 50 yards of their cabin, and it isn't even scratched. The heat shield worked just as expected and the Bycrilic held too. Over."
"Excellent Zeek, look after yourselves and if you need anything just holler. Over and out."
Back in Eden, Bill told Steve all that Zeek had told him. Steve shared it with Clare when he got home. "That settles it then," she said, "it is the tree of life, we can't deny it now, that means we'll all live forever!"
"Steady on Sweetie, we don't know that for sure."
"Well, ask me in 70 years time, we'll know by then."
Steve laughed at the thought of it. "We'll have to find plenty to do to occupy all that time Sweetie, any ideas?"
"Steve Forester! You're incorrigible," she said, laughing, "come on, let's have an early night."
❧
Sam was home alone reading quietly when he heard a tapping on his door. "Come in," he called out, and in came Kay.
"Am I disturbing you?" she asked softly.
"Only in ways that I like," he replied, smiling.
"I could use some company," she said, a little coyly, seeing that Sam was obviously glad to see her.
"Come in and sit down and I'll make us a drink." He vanished into the kitchen, and she picked up the book he was reading.
"What's this you're reading Sam, Beginners Chemistry?"
"Yes," he answered from the kitchen, "I thought I'd expand my knowledge base, after all, there won't be much call for a doctor from now on, I may need a new career. You work in chemistry don't you?"
"Yes, I do," she answered.
"I thought you did, it will be good to have something in common."
She smiled quietly at his attention to her detail and put the book down.
"I'll help you along with it if you like."
"Yes, I'd like that very much," he said handing her a coffee.
❧
The four new comers spent a rather uncomfortable night on the floor, and they were all glad to see daylight again. The Thomas family were already up and at work.
"Look at them," Martha said, to Betty, "just yesterday they were all dead, and now they're out there chopping wood and starting to build something."
"Build what?" Jake asked, whilst trying to get the crick out of his neck.
"Looks like a new cabin to me, perhaps they're building us a cabin."
Jake got up to take a look. "It sure does look like a cabin, and just look at how fast they're working. Come on, let's get some breakfast, and figure out what we're going to do next."
They emerged from the cabin and were greeted very warmly. All the Thomas family stopped what they were doing and came over to them.
"Good morning folks," Zeek said, trying to match their brightness, "what are you building?"
It was Dave who answered, "We've needed more space for ages and you guys turning up has inspired us to make a start. Besides, we all feel so well that we thought we'd get as much done as we could, in case we get sick again."
"That's not likely to happen Dave," Betty said, "but the extra space will certainly come in handy."
"How long have you lived here?"
"Don't rightly know, Zeek, but quite some time."
Mary said, "We've had two winters here if that helps."
This was the first time that Mary Thomas had spoken. Her voice was soft and cultured, more so than Dave's. Somehow they didn't seem to fit together as man and wife, but they'd obviously been through a lot, so maybe that wasn't so surprising.
"We haven't been introduced," Mary said, "I'm Mary, Dave's wife, and this is Danny our eldest, and Sarah, and this little guy is Paul."
"I'm eight," Paul said, proudly.
"And I'm Jake, and this is Betty, Martha and Zeek. You'll have to watch out for Zeek's sense of humour I'm afraid, there's usually one in every bunch, and in ours, it's Zeek!"
They all laughed, and for the first time the Thomases looked like a family.
Jake took Dave to one side and asked, "Do you know of any other survivors who may need our help?"
Dave hesitated a little before replying. "There were some folks in the ruins, but the radiation was bad there, so I don't know if they are still alive. To be honest, we kept away from them as much as we could after the war ended. We had nothing to give them, so we headed out into the country and kept away from what was left of the built up areas. We travelled, looking for somewhere safe to live. It seems like years now since everything was blown apart, and we've lost track of time."
He chuckled a little, "Time has very little meaning any more. Some months ago we found this place. It's not much, but we have water and firewood, and there doesn't seem to be any radiation here. There are fish in the lake, and a few small animals in the forest, so we survive." He paused. "Well, thanks to you that is, we'd be dead by now if you hadn't come along. By the way, how did you cure us so quickly?"
"It's a long story Dave, let's just say we found some good medicine and were glad to share it with you."
Jake was loath to tell Dave about Lark and Eden, having seen something of the harsh life they were living here. Perhaps later, but now didn't feel like the right time.
"Do you have any plans?" Dave asked.
"No, not yet, but we may travel and see if there are any more like you that we can help. Come on, let's get back to the others, they'll be wondering where we are."
When they got back to the cabin they found Sarah seated firmly on Zeek's lap. "I seem to have made a friend," he said, smiling. All the others were back working on the new cabin.
"Say, is anybody hungry?" Jake called out, "We brought some food with us..."
❧
Tristran turned up for work as usual, even though his project was now completed. "Hi Tris," John said, on seeing him, "don't want to go back to school eh?"
"I'd rather stay and help out here if that's ok with you John."
"Good, I'm glad you said that Tris, cos I've got something I want you to work on. It's top secret though so don't tell anyone."
John was obviously teasing, but it was true that he had something for Tris to do. They went into John's office and John produced some rough plans from his desk drawer.
"See what you can do with this," he said, handing them over. "Find a quiet corner somewhere and see what you come up with."
Tris looked at the plans and smiled, "Sure, John, I'll see you later."
Tris left the office in search of that elusive 'quiet corner' and John didn't see him for the rest of the day.
❧
Sam and Kay had been up all night talking. "I never knew that chemistry could be so fascinating," he said, "you make it come alive Kay, I'm hooked!"
Kay giggled like a little girl, she was not used to such devotion from the opposite sex, and she rather liked it.
"You're a good listener," she told him, "you make it easy to teach."
They breakfasted and went their separate ways for work.
The following day, John bumped into Tris as he entered the department.
"Had any luck?" he asked.
"Some," Tris answered, "but the power to weight ratio is proving troublesome."
"Yes, I know," John said, "that's why I gave it to you! Keep at it, I think it would be good if we could get it to work."
"Okay," Tris answered, "see you later."
Again he vanished for the rest of the day, but John was confident he would come up with a workable design.
"Hey Jims," Shelley said as she entered the house, "I just saw Phil, and he was singing the praises of your new fuel, he said it was dynamite."
"Actually, Shells, it's an awful lot more powerful than dynamite, but I accept the encouragement gracefully."
Shelley took no notice of his little bow. "Did he tell you about the return trip?" She asked.
"No, I haven't bumped into him yet, what do you know about it?"
"Well, for one thing, the rockets are extremely efficient with the new fuel, which means a little goes a long way, and the other thing was the Trion drive, the new shielding makes it much faster than it was before. He said something about perpetual acceleration, whatever that means!"
"Ah," Jimmy responded, to that last comment, "now that is interesting. Any way, I'm starved let's eat."
The next time John saw Tris he was grinning from ear to ear.
"You've solved it?" he asked, excitedly.
"Yes I have, you're going to love this."
Tris handed John the modified plans. John took a quick look, and almost jumped for joy.
"You have solved it haven't you. Doh! It was right under my nose all the time and I couldn't see it. Right young man, this is your project now, I want you to build it. The department is yours."
Tris' face lit up, but all he could say was, "Wow."
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter 8.
The Keracraft
Tris was more than excited, he was now in charge of the whole department, with a new and very exciting project to build. John's plans were very comprehensive, and only lacked the last part of the equation to be complete, but John had been unable to see the answer.
Tris set about the organisation of the staff, and gave each member specific functions and goals; he wanted this venture to run smoothly and efficiently. Above all, he wanted to impress John who had shown such faith in him.
That day, John arrived home early, shortly before Lisa. For some reason that he didn't understand, he spent time looking around the house. It was a nice house, if somewhat basic. Other members of the community had taken time to improve and extend their homes, but John had always been far too busy to even contemplate such a thing.
Lisa had never complained, but John knew that deep down, she was not totally happy with things as they were. Even now, as he looked around he could see many things that needed doing: little jobs that would take no time at all, yet they remained undone. A certain amount of guilt over took him as he realised that he had neglected his family in favour of his work.