Ark II, Launch

Story: Ark II Chapter 28: A Minute? A Year? A Century! Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com) Adult Readers

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"No problems," Scott nodded happily.

Hank held his hand up, "Don't say that!" He said to Scott in a stressed whisper.

"Say what?" Scott asked.

Hank grudged a nod and shake of his head, "In almost every movie, book or anything...as soon as you say that, all Hell breaks loose!" He waved his hands in futility.

Joel smiled, but rolled his eyes, "Not that again."

"What?' Scott asked uncertainly.

"Sure and yes, that again," Hank nodded. "It's the morning on Saturday the fourteenth, the birds are singing, our heroine is in a canoe having lived through Hell Friday the thirteenth. The police are there and wham, Jason shoots from the lake, grabs our heroine and drags her under! It's a universal Murphy's law."

"Jason?" Scott asked.

Joel chuckled patting Hank on the shoulder. He looked at Scott and the others, "It's another movie moment. Apparently a very traumatic moment for Hank, Friday the Thirteenth. There was a slew of those films with the subject."

Hank nodded more, "You've seen it!" He said to Joel. "Your defenses are lowered, you relax and then wham! All Hell breaks loose." He shook his finger at Scott. "Don't jinx us!"

Scott held his hands up in surrender and just smiled. "I won't! I don't mean to."

Hank nodded, "And don't forget the Nightmare on Elm Street movies."

"Or the one they put Jason and Freddy Krueger in the same film," Joel grinned. "You remember Halloween!"

Hank nodded quickly, "Yes! How did Micheal always manage to survive?"

Leah frowned, "You two like horror films?"

Joel gave a grudging nod, "I don't like gory films. Films that are made just to be gory." He pointed out. "There has to be a plot."

"I didn't care for the Saw films," Hank corrected. "That seemed more about the gore."

Joel smiled, "Well, those films were more about what a person will do to save his own life." He brightened, "The movies of the late Twentieth Century and early Twenty-first Century took scaring people to whole new levels and became very realistic."

Hank shrugged, "I like the films that surprise me." He grinned, "There's been a few, but..."

"The Sixth Sense!" Joel said triumphantly.

"Yes!" Hank agreed. "The kid was spooky with his I see dead people, but Joel got me to see it, not knowing what happened and boy, was that a surprise!" He was about to tell the surprise when Joel covered Hank's mouth.

"Don't tell them! You'll spoil it!" Joel urged in a hissing whisper. "Don't ruin it for them!"

Hank nodded, "Right." He grinned and pointed at the others. "If you know, don't tell the ones that don't!"

Nayef's head shook again, "I ask again...when did you study?" He waved at them. "You're talking about hours and hours of viewing time. You had to go to school!" His head cocked in Joel's direction. "You had duties."

Joel chuckled, "Those movies and shows are over two hundred years old." He shrugged, "There was time."

Leah also shook her head, "And you don't think the movies or shows desensitized you to violence?"

Hank and Joel exchanged looks and shrugged.

Joel smiled, "Life has desensitized us all. Life on Earth was cruel in the last few decades."

"Trauma is a natural part of life," Hank smiled. "My job as a parent are to guide the minds of our children to ready them for that life. Exposing Chloe and Rachel to that life is my job."

Joel chuckled and nodded shortly, "And Ian has those two brothers to help him along." He smiled thinking of his sons. "And Ian recently decided to be a vegan."

Hank's head went back a little, "Really?" He looked cautiously at Joel, "How do you see that?"

Joel shrugged a grin, "It wasn't really surprising."

Nayef smiled, "The problem with children as advanced as he clearly is...they may know a lot, but they often don't have the coping skills to handle the information."

Joel nodded, "Yes, but Ian has two parents and the two robots..."

"...and not to mention all these very smart aunts and uncles on the Ark to watch him." Hank added.

"Many times I'm blown away by what my sons understand," Joel admitted. "I never want them to not be bothered by violence. When we showed them the news about what happened on Earth we didn't want to show too much. I don't want to rob them of any innocence that remains." He shrugged.

"You've killed before," Leah said in a sort of questioning way.

"I have," Joel nodded. "In combat, it was about the enemy...not a specific person. I do have a face or two I remember where the death was more personal. I never knew the names. It was combat and I had to stop them."

"Did you?" Nayef asked. "Did you stop them?"

Joel nodded, "I had to. They would have killed me." He sighed, "I never quite get over that." He smiled at them, "I have every confidence that my children will be raised by the people on this Ark. I would trust each of you." He chuckled, "To paraphrase a First Lady that said, it takes a village to raise a child. This Ark has some of the best people onboard. I know the future generations will be fine."

Nayef smiled, "You are keeping us together and seeing us as family helps to make it easier."

"No one person is more important than the other," Joel said sincerely. "We need each other." He looked at Nayef. "I thank those who screened all of us and selected the best psychologically and physically to make up this Ark."

"Other than the close call with you, Joel," Scott said. "We've been fortunate we haven't lost anyone."

"With A1, A2, and the A3 and A4," Hank smiled. "We've reduced the chances of death by anyone. Now we can go down and survey the progress and the risk of accidental death has decreased dramatically."

"Yes," Joel nodded.

"We'll be testing the interface again with the Stingers," Scott said. "To see if the response time has improved."

Nayef nodded, "It should be better."

Leah smiled, "As the days pass, it should simply get better. The filaments will continue to spread out touching almost every portion of the brain. That will make the response time shrink even more."

"Tomorrow," Joel smiled.

Back in the Communal Dining Area Joel was greeted by his sons. There was no up and down in space. The rotational gravity they enjoyed on the Ark kept feet on the floor, but it wasn't real gravity. A while back they tried the Gerard O'Neill cylinders on the moon. The problem was those cylinders rotated using movable parts and would breakdown. The microgravity on the moon were having bad effects on the colonists. That and the radiation. The gravity situation didn't work well. More than half the power generated for the moon was to protect the colonists from radiation and create gravity. The medical field had some good medications now to stop bone and muscle loss. That and required exercises helped with that. On Mars, too. There were people on the moon, Mars, and on the mining colonies that could not return to Earth. The Stasis Pods helped to slow the deterioration and atrophy. Mankind was now a spacefaring creature. Kind of. They had certain requirements to live out here. Men had found a way of to bring that requirement with them. There were those that thought mankind should evolve to live out in the space environment. Joel mentally shrugged at that. How would they do that? That was a form of science Joel didn't want to waste time thinking about. It wasn't happening anytime soon.

There were people on Earth that had wanted to keep the peace by not telling about the past. To forget it happened. That was foolish. A forgotten past would resurface if they did that. There were no lessons learned. Joel was determined to have those lessons learned.

He was also aware of the possibilities. Humans could live a very long time. In stasis, if the brain could operate...a person could live hundreds or thousands of years. Using the body of an android or robot there could be virtually no end. He knew what Sara Beth would think about that. She believed in everything natural. Even when it came to their children. Mother's milk was for infant Human Beings. There were times you had to use cow's milk, but... He knew what she would think about Humans acting inside a robotic body. She ate a lot of brainfoods. Humans need that to stay sharp and alert. Thinking in stasis was new, but didn't the brain need those nutrients to think? Joel had been in stasis that one time to test the interface. It wasn't that long, but he felt no ill effects. Not yet.

Joel smiled as he strolled down the Habitat Ring. It was looking and sounding like it really was...a community of people. There were men and women walking in various groups. One group had five in the group and there was the drone of many Human voices all talking...different subjects, yes, but it was clearly a Human thing to do. The sound of the occasional laugh, but the voices were calm. Everyone here had jobs to do with no pressure from anyone to get it done. Joel knew these people had been screened for genetic flaws. Their family histories gone through to see if there were any psychological issues or mental illnesses. Joel also knew there were some like Wei Ch'en who had things in their pasts that they didn't share with everyone. Yet, those back on Earth had cleared him and even gave him a team to lead. Joel knew all of the Arks were well planned for a long time, but this Ark was the one they thought about the most. No one and no place was perfect. They'd deal with all the problems as they came.

The new Interface to be used with Athena was almost invisible. Two electrodes, one on each side of their heads came from behind their heads. Once activated, Joel felt connected with Athena, the Stinger, and the entire Ark better than before. He had a passing thought about Sara Beth and wondered what she was doing and suddenly, he saw what she was doing. She was hunched over a lab table working on some plant. He instantly could see it was Triticum Aestivum. He also knew it was wheat! How did he know that? He wasn't into plants like that.

"Whoa!" Joel said suddenly. "Athena, can you see everyone like this? Where they are and what they're doing?"

"I can, Commander," Athena replied. "That's what I was built to do."

"You have unrestricted access?" Joel asked.

"I do," Athena acknowledged. "You can give restrictions to individual users as needed."

Joel nodded, "I think we better." He chuckled. "A person likes their privacy. This unrestricted access will unnerve people. We need to tell Rita that we need to." His mind went to his sons. He saw his sons in their class working hard on various subjects. Ian was again working on his math. Good boy. Jimmy was working math as well, but it was applied math as in computer physics. Kevin was reading something from Earth's history. At the moment he was reading about the Byzantine Empire. The Eastern half of the Roman Empire. An area covered Italy but covered Bulgaria, Greece and Asia Minor! A thousand years that spread through Northern Africa and the Middle East. "I don't worry about anyone on the Ark seeing anything, but..." he shook his head, "No one should be able to just access nude pictures of me or Sara Beth. When we make love...I don't want anyone to worry that I would do that to them!"

"That doesn't have to be a problem," Athena said.

"We'll get with Rita and get her to get the parameters started," Joel said simply.

They all heard Angus clearing his throat. He wasn't congested, but wanted to get their attention. "I hate t' break this up, but right now ye are a Stinger."

"Right," Joel chuckled.

"Sorry," Hank said.

"We'll be going to the asteroid belt," Joel nodded, which no one saw.

"Is that all?" Hank asked.

"You could go t' Zeus," Angus suggested. "There are many moons and other bodies orbiting. We will need t` name them. You can look closer at them so Athena can keep up with them." His brogue was still there, but lighter. Joel knew Angus would get excited about something and it got thicker.

"We're going," Hank assured quickly. "We're going!"

`Do you know where"?" Joel chuckled. "That asteroid belt is vast."

"Maybe go to Zeus," Angus suggested. `We're catching up with Zeus's orbit. We experience the seasonal changes as Zeus pulls our orbit away from Ran. You have to pass through the debris field anyway. See the asteroids then."

"So the seasons will not be an event our plant and animals won't know when to molt or send the pollen out." Hank said.

Joel chuckled, "Sara Beth said the plants will react to the temperature change." He mentally shrugged. He didn't know how that would translate. "The animal life will have to adjust. She says they will. They will also change and evolve differently. In a few years, we won't recognize the species!"

"Which we won't see," Hank muttered.

"Are you sure?" Nayef asked.

"Not now, Nayef," Joel said laughing lightly.

"Yes," Nayef said lightly, "The task at hand needs to be done."

"We have the needed route," Joel explained. A display appeared with a lighted path. "One day we'll need to be able to do it without Athena."

"We don't have to," Hank said back. "We may have to take note of what's around our targets. To know where we need to go. However, for now we use Athena." He chuckled, "First one there wins!"

Joel saw Hank's Stinger suddenly disappear. Joel grinned to himself and sent the signal to the Stinger and shot after him. "Not fair!" He griped, "I wasn't ready."

"I thought you guys were always prepared," Hank's voice came. "Always ready."

"We weren't the Boy Scouts," Joel said gruffly. Hank had taken off so quickly but using his enhanced vision he saw Hank. He even saw an indicator where Hank was with a readout of his position. Joel saw the direction Hank was taking and saw debris Hank had to guide around. Joel saw a better route and steered that way. At a rate of speed greater than the speed of light, they needed to be careful. Athena was advising the best path. Joel zipped following that path and using his piloting skills caught up and passed Hank.

"How'd you do that?" Hank demanded.

"Experience," Joel said.

It was true. Joel had been a pilot for a decade and a half. His mind knew what path to choose, and he took it. Getting to Zeus, the planet was a lot like Jupitar back in their home system. Except instead of yellows, reds and browns, Zeus had swirling rings of blue. Dark and light colors with white bands mixed in. He had more moons than Jupiter had. They knew of one hundred and three moons now. Zeus had close to two hundred! Joel knew they'd find more. One was almost as big as Gaea! Only it was a rough and rocky world and very little atmosphere. There was another that had a thick atmosphere. What it was made of were many things, they prominently had nitrogen and sulfur dioxide. Athena could do a more detailed survey anyway. This was basically a visual check by them. A test to see if they could do it.

They did look over several moons but didn't linger long. This would have taken longer than they wanted. The moons were categorized, photographed and information was stored for deeper study. They flew and it began hitting Joel. He was actually already back. He had never left! This was a real "out-of-body" experience!

"Can we get these Stringers to fly back automatically?" Joel asked.

"You can do it now," Angus said simply. "Athena will fly them back. I thought you knew that."

"Hey," Joel all but growled. "So, what do I need to do?"

"Just disconnect," Angus chuckled. "Take the interface off."

"Don't we need to tell Athena?" Hank asked.

"Why?" Anthony asked.

"Andy?" Joel asked taking the Neural Interface off. "When did..." He looked and did not see him. "Where are you?"

"In my lab!" Andrew answered. "Where do you think?"

"I'm here too, Dad!" Jimmy declared. "I saw the whole thing!"

Joel was surprised. It was not wrong. He was learning there. "You weren't bored when we went to Zeus?" The trip took a few minutes. More than an hour.

"Nah," Jimmy answered. "It was fascinating."

"We all saw it, Dad," Kevin informed, "From the classroom!'

"Robbie said we could!" Ian said happily. "He said we were watching history in the making."

Joel smiled, "We all are, even you. We are the first people to step on a planet outside our home solar system. We are all astronauts. That's you three."

"We are?" Ian asked amazed.

"You are," Joel chuckled.

"Really?" Jimmy asked in disbelief.

"We are the first people to leave our home solar system. You uncle Xolani is the first man to step on a world outside our home system."

"Wow," Ian said happily.

"Like Neil Armstrong," Joel said. "Your Uncle Xolani is the first man to step on another world out of our home system. We are going where no one has gone before."

"Quoting Neil? Or Captain Kirk?" Hank asked with a grin.

"Both," Joel answered. "Exploring strange new worlds and new civilizations," Joel looked at Hank. "We haven't encountered new civilizations. We a going where no one's gone before."

"Captain Kirk then," Hank grinned.

"Sure," Joel grinned back.

"Actually," Leah smiled. "That was Picard."

Joel and Hank raised their eyebrows and looked at Leah.

"I've watched both the original and next generation. Kirk said no man, Picard said no one." She shrugged. "They didn't want to appear sexist." She chuckled. "You weren't the only ones to watch those old shows."

Joel raised a finger to point out, "Ah, but it was a bold move forward for mankind. Both Captain Kirk and Captain Picard got people to see any life they encountered as equals! As they moved in the last half of the twentieth century. The hippies and protesters about Vietnam, the Cold War with Russia and the fear of the bomb! It was an important growing time for mankind and Earth is still learning. While there has been interracial mating throughout Human history, showing things such as interracial kissing, Captain Kirk was the first man where a Caucasian man kissed an African woman on television! The first! Censors okayed that kiss stating because Captain Kirk was manipulated mentally and he no control..." he cocked his head slightly, "Remember Plato's Stepchildren?"

Leah nodded withy a laugh, "I do."

"Great episode!" Joel grinned. "They couldn't show Captain Kirk kissing Spock or Dr. McCoy." He chuckled. "But in other Star Trek shows, they had the ship's male doctor is married to the ship's top male scientist. A super smart female, an engineer was widowed to another woman. They included two androgynist people who were in a relationship! There was a maa kissing a man!"

Hank nodded, "And putting Klingon on the crew was an adjustment for the world to see Worf as a man ignoring the head ridges just seeing the man!"

"There was an interesting story about Spock and Kirk," Joel chuckled. "They went to a planet and something about the planet caused Spock to enter Pon Farr two years after the Pon Farr he entered two years before."

"Pon what?" Nayef asked with very confused expression.

Leah chuckled, "Pon Farr. A Vulcan..." she looked at her husband, "You know them."

"Yes," Nayef nodded. "Pointed ears and completely devoid of emotions and depend solely on logic."

Leah smiled with a nod, "Sure, but not totally devoid of emotions. They have very deep emotions, they're tightly controlled."

"Right," Joel nodded. "It's a time of frenzied mating. Every seven years male Vulcans become incoherent homicidal maniacs!"

"What!?" Nayef said in disbelief.

"Yes," Joel smiled and nodded. "They are driven to mate. They were in a situation there was only Kirk!"

Nayef's eyebrows rose, "No."

"Yes!" Joel stated and pointed. "Instead of letting Spock go insane. They were best friends so Kirk let Spock mate with him. They realized they were in love and Spock allowed Kirk to mate with him. They even marry for a few years."

Nayef then shrugged. "Why not? I personally don't see Humans as straight or homosexual." He nodded again and shrugged. "There are many men and women that are fluid with the sexuality. You remove the religious stigmas about homosexuality you will find men and women that will easily go into a homosexual relationship. College students go into homosexual relationships so others can see them having gay sex. Were they straight? We don't mate when a woman goes into heat. I don't know," he shrugged again, "I get..." his head, "more amorous in the spring."

Hank grinned, "You mean your horney."

Nayef gave another nod with a grin, "Exactly."

"We are animals," Joel stated simply.

Hank smiled at Nayef, "I bet you are."

"Moving on," Naref muttered turning a little pink. Leah gave a smile to her husband.

"Aw," Hank continued. "He's blushing."

"Leave him alone, Hank," Joel smiled.

"The urge to mate to keep the species going has lessened with the generations," Nayef went on. "We've done a good job keeping the Human species going. We've developed more ways to produce offspring. Allowing Adel and Brice to have a healthy child together," He grudged a nod. "Mark and Matt can have a child. Leif and Steven. Connie and Nancy..."

"Can you believe those eggheads on Earth almost didn't allow her on board because she was born male!?" Joel asked irritated. "What did they think Matt and Mark's equipment was for?"

Nayef grinned, "Right! We've come up with other means to have children. We on the Ark were chosen because we were young enough to have children in the traditional way..."

Leah smirked, "Which men can do in their geriatric years. Women can't."

Nayef raised a finger, "Ah, but they can." He nodded at his wife. "You have your DNA stored as mine is." He waved at the Ark as a whole. "Like everyone else on the Ark, including the children. You could have a child with Xolani or Wei, or even Leif!"

"Or even Rita or Sara Beth!" Hank added.

Nayef conceded a nod and smile, "And you could be dead a thousand years! The biological imperative to make a new generation has lessened. Sex has become something we do socially to bond together." He then said happily, "And now, we can produce children without even being there!" He was growing more excited. "Our DNA will be! They could recreate us and bring our bodies back!" He then pointed at them and stressed firmly. "They could recreate me and my devastating good looks, but it won't be me! It will be a copy of me." He waved his arms out, "But what do I know? They may find a way to bring us all back! Complete with all our memories and what we've learned. Will it be me? Or just a copy of all this?" He touched his head. "I find it hard to believe. They could find a way to preserve our brains and we may be operating this the newly created versions of us as we operate in android bodies! The possibilities are endless!"

Joel had been approaching Nayef and reached and took Nayef's arm, "Okay. Down boy." He chuckled. "Down."

Nayef grabbed Joel's shoulders and shook him lightly, "We are taking our species in directions our ancestors never dreamt of! It's exciting!"

"Yes, it is," Joel agreed. "The many brilliant minds on the Ark, it will move forward a lot faster."

Nayef was right. What they were doing was very exciting. Joel had family waiting for him, but he was sidetracked by seeing Sara Beth in this powwow with Brice Lavigne, Wei Ch'en, Nancy and Connie! It was easy to get sidetracked by the technology, the robots and all those things. These science minds were working on what they were looking at on Gaea. Joel was surprised how quickly the wall of what would enclose New Charleston was going up. Joel grinned as there seemed to be more of those wonderful robots that were scurrying around quickly to put it together. Joel got the impression of ants or some other insects working frantically. There was even a transparent pie wedge into place to make the transparent dome. Joel could see how putting them into place would protect New Charleston. Yet they were talking about something else.

"...how bad are the projections?" Brice asked. His light French accent was heard. He could speak English well without any accent. Like many on the Ark the native accents became more noticeable when he concentrated on the job. Joel wondered if he had one.

"Right now it is a category two," Kurt reported. "The warm water has it increasing to a category three."

"What's this?" Joel asked coming toward them. "Are we having a hurricane?"

Kurt grudged a nod, "Well, there is a cyclone forming." He smiled. "A storm happens when warm and cool air meet. On Earth tropical cyclones form and depending on where it forms." He shrugged. "Even Jupiter's Red Spot is a storm. This will be our first on Gaea. We are catching Zeus and feeling the pull from Ran." He nodded at the screen. "I'll be concerned when we move past Zeus. This will be the first one we observe. There are no landmasses to cause the storm to break up."

"We are concerned for the structure we have put together," Wei explained. "We have every confidence it should be fine."

"There are subsurface peaks where there would be land just a hundred feet below the surface," Kurt reported. The high pressure is driving the storm at the New Hawai'ian Islands." He sighed. "It should make landfall in a week."

Joel nodded," I witnessed this on Earth several times. Anything new with this one?"

"Not yet," Kurt admitted. "We'll see it when it happens. If it acts like a typical cyclone..." he pointed to the image. "The eye will pass north New Charleston. There will be the expected storm surge. We'll see what happens." He shrugged.

"The structure will be sound," Joel stated hopefully. "Right?" He remembered the horrible destructive power of those storms on Earth. "Wei, you created strong settlements underwater."

Wei nodded, "A structure underwater has to simply survive the currants and corrosive power of the salt water. The pressure and has little problem other factors. On the surface, the destructive wind with the rising water driven by the winds..." he waved at the image. "Yes, the structure should be fine." He grinned. "Protecting a structure in the vacuum of space is easier. Holding an atmosphere in is a lot easier. Our construction has developed safeguards and reinforcements. There should be no damage. The problem will be the surrounding ground." He grudged a nod, "Even if the water rises high enough to flood, it should not damage the structure. The wall if driven deep enough. We'll just have to watch."

"Okay," Joel smiled. He looked again at the robots working frantically building the wall. "Those robots down there will be protected from the storm."

"By Gaea herself," Wei assured. "Underground."

"Good, good," Joel nodded.

Hank smiled at Joel, "You are such a father."

Joel nodded, "As are you." He looked at Sara Beth. "Other than the storm, are there any other concerns?"

Sara Beth shook her head, "Not one." Then she frowned, "That scares me."

Joel's head went back slightly, "Having no problems scares you. Why?"

Sara thought howe to explain it, "Well, you could say this is a dress rehearsal of a big show on stage." She grinned as Joel nodded following her words in hopes of understanding. "A flawless dress rehearsal is a sure sign that something will go wrong for the performance!"

Joel grinned, "Technically, the performance is the whole thing." He chuckled, "From us landing the first time on Gaea to when the last lifeform dies on the surface millions, if not billions of years from now." He held a finger up. "One performance. One show." He shook his head, "Have you married the wrong man? Perhaps I should step aside so you and Hank..."

Sara Beth shook her head and rubbed her slight swell under her uniform, "Pay no attention to daddy, Daylia. He thinks he's being funny." She pulled him into a passionate kiss. Releasing him she poked him on the chest. "We're having child number four. Even in spite of the jest. I know I didn't make a mistake." Then she grinned, "Do you think you did?"

Joel grinned shaking his head, "Not once since we met in Chicago."

"Good answer," Sara Beth smiled. "You knew that day?"

"I was pretty sure," Joel admitted. "Didn't you?"

"Well," Sara Beth smiled a little deviously. "I will admit to hoping maybe for sex."

"Sex!" Joel blurted. "That was it!?"

"I had to consider my future!" Sara Beth justified. "I had an education to pursue. College and becoming a doctor."

"You got the education and became a doctor." Joel argued. "You got sex. Many times, just not that day!"

Sara Beth held up four fingers. "Four! Four children!" Then she poked him on the chest again. "If there's a number five. You have it."

"Mark and Matt have that egg," Joel grinned. "Neither of us has to have it."

Sara Beth frowned, "I still say natural Human mothers are the best way to have a child."

Joel nodded, "You said you loved being a mother."

"I did!" Sara Beth said nodding. "I was growing a Human Being!" She frowned. "I didn't enjoy the contractions, the swollen ankles, the back pain or peeing every fifteen minutes in the last trimester. The baby feels warmth and protection. Hears the mother's voice and heartbeat. The baby feels secure." She poked him again on the chest. "Daylia will be my last time going through labor. You do it next time!"

"I wanted to with Kevin, Jimmy and Ian!" Joel defended. "You were in such pain, but you had to have our children!"

"I wish there was a way every man could feel the pain," Sara Beth smiled. "You were better than many others. One said to his wife, it couldn't hurt that much. The son of a bitch!" She gave an evil look. "He needed to feel the pain! I wanted to hook an interface from his wife to him so he could feel how much it didn't hurt that much! Bastard!""

"He was ignorant." Joel shook his head.

"That's the explanation, it is no excuse! How dare he!?" She rubbed her abdomen affectionately. "I still say Human milk for a child. They are not cows!"

"Are you going to make some women give milk like cows!?" Joel asked amazed.

"Of course not." Sara Beth grinned. "However there are markets that sell Human milk!" She pointed out. "It's very expensive. Ensuring the mothers are on a responsible diet and are healthy and disease free...that costs." She held a hand up, "Yes, cow's milk is great. Calcium and vitamins are essential for a child. I just want Human milk as a priority." She hit him slightly on the chest. "You know this. I've told you for over ten years about how I feel about this! Billions of years of evolution has perfected it. Use it!"

"I know you are," Joel laughed.

"I gave our boys my milk until Ian was four!" Sara Beth stated firmly. "I didn't nurse them beyond the first year but fed them milk from me in a glass."

Joel chuckled, "I wondered why your breasts didn't shrink back quickly." He held his hand up, "Not that I was complaining."

"No," Sara Beth grimaced. "I don't believe you did. Why would you?"

"Using the same triggers for attraction after millions of years," Joel said logically. "Guys learned to judge the potential mothers of his children who would provide the best meals for the future generations. Wide hips, big breasts...we are drawn to that!"

Sara Beth nodded, "And women are drawn by the big muscles, including the great butts..." she grabbed him in the kiss again, "Yours is the best. Especially in those military pants!" She grinned, "They must have been designed by a woman."

Joel nodded, "I think they were."

"Gay or straight women know how to dress a man," Sara Seth said. "You looked just fine."

"Just fine," Joel frowned.

"No," Sara Beth continued. "Not just fine. You looked just fiiinnnne." She stressed the word fine.

"Oh," Joel grinned. "Just fiiinnnne." He chuckled. "You looked just fiiinnnne, too." He grinned. "I guess we both got what we wanted."

"I'd say so." Sara Beth nodded grinning.

"If you two are done," Hank growled slightly. "There are family waiting on us."

"No one's stopping you." Joel said back.

"No," Hank said back simply. "You have children that want to see you both." He hinted.

"Right," Joel nodded. "Our boys. Are you done, Sara Beth?"

"Sure," Sara Beth smiled. "I was here to deal with the potential plant life in New Charleston. I can help very little with structure and failure." She took Joel's hand. "Let's go."

Family time with his family was as always. Good. Even Rob and Robbie were interacting as expected. They had a great talent night and the Nesmiths returned to their quarters to get ready for another day. Really, Joel wondered about calling it a night. They didn't have a day versus a night. Sure, the dimmed lights on the Habitat Ring was all for the residents' psychology on the Ark. It did make them all relax and get ready for sleep.

The storm did hit the New Hawai'ian Islands and New Charleston. There was no damage and lost no robots. The was the storm surge with raised water levels. Wind and rain made things wet, the gas exchangers worked during the whole storm. Joel was feeling good about the whole thing. The people had rallied and handled it well. All the preparations were being set out and the next stasis period was going to start. It was stupid, but Joel was worried about Daylia! It was proven there was no harm done to any pregnancy. His mentioning his c0ncern brought a smile to Sara Beth.

"Honey," Sara Beth kissed him gently. "I have no doubt where your heart is about your family, and Daylia. Be concerned, but know Daylia will be fine. We put all our children in stasis and launched ourselves into space. We could have been victims like Ark IV! We weren't harmed and will be fine."

"I have a big history test coming up!" Kevin argued.

"Guess what," Joel began. "It will still be coming up. Tomorrow, next week, or a hundred years...do you think Robbie or Robot will forget where you were!?"

"No, but..." Kevin continued.

"Oh," Joel smiled. "You'll forget what you've learned."

"No," Kevin admitted.

"Your life won't be interrupted a bit!" Joel assured. "I dare say the only difference will be the plant life. On Gaea and the Ark!"

Leif was having anxiety about the enclosure that was being built on the shore of New Hawai'i.

"...I won't be awake when biological process begins!" Leif moaned.

Steven Combs rolled his eyes, but patted Leif's arm to support his husband. "The parameters you came up with."

"Something could not function correctly," Leif waved both arms min the direction of Gaea. "Shouldn't I be awake?"

"Are you doubting Athena's ability to do the job?" Steve tried not to laugh.

"No, but..." Leif all but whined.

"I've heard a lot of the buts recently," Joel chuckled.

"He's being a mother hen," Steve smiled. "And a worrywart." He shrugged. "It is his baby."

"Speaking of babies," Joel began, "When can we expect one from you two?"

Leif suddenly looked curious.

Steve grinned, "Probably after this stasis period. It seems Matt and Mark will be the first Human the same gender to have a child." His arms came out stating helplessness. "They want all four children to be raised at the same time. They want the children to be raised as siblings. Because they are."

Joel nodded, "That makes sense. There should be enough artificial eggs. Though Connie and Nancy could do t..."

"Yes," Steve pointed out. "Their wombs are occupied for now."

"Connie and Nancy can only have daughters," Leif said. "Do we know if the two being carried are boys or girls?"

Joel nodded, "Connie is carrying a boy. Nancy is carrying a girl. They will make an interesting family." He knew the pressure was on with Leif and Steve. Not about producing a child, but getting this new planet started. No one man would be solely responsible. "Everything is going as planned. If there is a problem, Athena will revive you. Don't worry about things that aren't there." He smiled at the big Norwegian. "What's happening first?"

"When the secured part is enclosed," Leif explained. "There will be the algae released and should do fine in Ran's light. They will reproduce and give the plankton something to eat." He shrugged. "There will be the release of bacteria to start the process of dealing with the deaths that will occur."

"The algae will release oxygen into the water and the air," Steve explained. "The chain reaction will begin." He grinned. "Leif wasn't the only one working on this project. Leif was the one to spearhead the project."

Leif shook his head, "I never said you weren't." He squeezed Steve affectionately. "It was a team effort."

"The Human Race breathes a collective sigh of relief." Joel laughed lightly. "The almost no oxygen won't affect the algae or plankton?"

"Oh, no," Leif shook his head. "I've used these plankton and algae before, just tweaking the genetic structure to live in lower gas levels. We used them in war zones to help repair the area."

"Very successfully, I may add," Joel pointed out. "So successfully, it helped get you on the Ark!"

"It wasn't just my good looks?" Leif asked grinning.

Joel pointed at him, "Those helped naturally. The process will begin in approximately in two Earth decades."

"Yes," Leif admitted.

"We can arrange for you to be revived when it starts." Joel offered.

"That would be great," Leif smiled.

Things on Gaea would change dramatically in the next century. The residents would notice little change. However, the wall and dome would be finished. The biodome would help contain the atmosphere inside. There would be grasses! Joel looked forward to walking barefoot in that grass! The threat of "stickers" and stinging bugs would not be there yet. He thought. Joel knew there were insects needed and worms for burrowing. Bees! They would be needed, after they got the biosphere going. There were the minds that knew this. He would leave it to them. The needed Wurtzite Boron Nitrate and other needed metals were brought from the surrounding asteroids was now going. Again, not Joel's thing. He would leave it to those minds where it was their thing. The slight new drive for the residents was due to the need to return to stasis. All the preparations needed to be ready. Of course, everyone worked in their fields. Joel and Hank worked primarily with the heads of each department, but each "head" worked with others in their departments that were also PhDs! Smart and talented people, many who have worked with those heads for years! Everyone knew they had to work together. There were no heated moments that Joel knew of. No complaint about an overbearing supervisor or boss. Would it happen? Maybe. They were Human. That was sorted out before they were approved. They were tested using goals and observed how those goals were handled. They were good people.

Sara Beth went over plans she had for the plants she had out on the Ark. Speaking with Athena, who was in her solid form in the Command Room.

"...the plants shouldn't grow beyond the container sizes," she said. "There will be no disease or blight of any kind. We haven't any threat onboard. Just keep them pruned and clear."

Athena nodded, "I've witnessed your passion for these plants. I feel very confident I can continue your work."

Joel looked at Sara Beth, "Won't that impede their resistance?"

Sara Beth grudged a nod, "Well, yes." She admitted. "They would become victims on Earth, but on Gaea..." she shrugged. "Again, we won't have any diseases of things to fight off. We'll introduce insects and other animal life on Gaea after this stasis period."

"Of course," Joel nodded. He looked at Rob and Robbie, "I'll say I'll miss you, but time won't pass for us as it will for you."

Rob grinned and it was a very Human expression Rob had learned to use. Joel wondered if Rob had just learned to mimic the expression or if Rob really felt the emotion. That possibility was moot. Rob felt emotions. Did any Human know if another Human felt real emotions. He understood a psychopath didn't feel emotion often, but those psychopaths learned to mimic emotion and expressions to fool people.

"We will miss you," Rob assured, "We'll keep busy."

Ian held the hand of Robbie again. He had been doing it less and less as the weeks had progressed. He was feeling more confident. Inserting himself in their community more and more. He had been assertive when he claimed to become a vegetarian! That had been a bold move for Joel's and Sara Beth's youngest son. He was a Nesmith! "You don't sleep." He pointed at Rob. "You can eat. I know, but not because you're hungry."

Rob smiled his nod, "Not yet." He shrugged, "Who knows what your brother will come up with?"

"Feel free to use our quarters," Joel smiled. "Apollo, Robot and Athena are welcome there." He grinned at Rob and Robbie. "If you throw any wild parties, revive us to come, too."

Rob shook his head, "Come on, Dad. You know us."

Joel's expression softened, "I've known Robbie almost my whole life. I'm still learning. I want to know more."

Rob hugged Joel tightly, "We both will have time."

"Really," Joel looked at Robbie and then at Rob. "You were my daddy. Even when you were less than four feet, you were my father, confidant, and my best friend. I will love you all my life." He smirked at Rob, "What drove your personality. That wasn't programmed, was it?"

Rob gave Joel a sideways glance, "You programmed me." He smiled at Joel. "I was with you for three decades. I knew what made you smile and made you angry. When my personality was transferred to this body, making the adjustment was easy." He shrugged. Again a very natural and very Human gesture. "In this body," Rob tapped his chest. "I was more free to express what I felt as Rob. I could do it in Robbie's body, but now you can see it better." He looked at Sara Beth. "I love you, too. Your three boys and I know I will love Daylia. I would never allow any of you to be harmed. Believe that."

Sara Beth hugged Rob, "I do." She kissed Rob's cheek. Then pulled Robbie down and kissed his clear covered faceplate. Robbie did express emotions. His little lights blinked faster, and the spinning antenna turned quicker. "I trust you completely."

"I will never betray that trust, Mom Sara Beth," Robbie promised.

Joel turned to his sons, "Have we secured all you need to in your rooms?" he asked in his stern dad voice. Which failed every time to be as stern as he wanted.

"Yes, Dad." All three said as they had all their lives. Not one was worried or scared of him.

"It will be a long time before we come back down here," Joel explained. "Any mechanical failure, the ring stops rotating and things will fly around the quarters..."

Kevin sighed, "We got it, Dad." Then he grinned. "You worry too much."

Joel raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, I just don't want to hear complaints if something gets broken or lost."

"Lost?" Jimmy balked. "On the Ark!? How can it be lost? Misplaced, maybe, but lost!?"

"We'll know when it happens," Joel continued.

Sara Beth touched Ian gently, "I know you secured your keyboard."

Ian nodded instantly, "Oh, yes! I don't want to lose or get that broken. I secured it in the locked cabinet in my room!"

"Good," Sara Beth smiled. "I'm looking for many more compositions from that marvelous mind of yours."

"What about our minds?" Kevin mockingly growled.

"You, all three are scarily smart," Joel admitted.

"Scarily?" Kevin asked.

"You know things you shouldn't at your age, I've seen some marvelous things from you two," Sara Beth smiled touching them gently. "All my children are brilliant. We are proud of each of you." She looked at Kevin, "You are a natural leader. I've seen you rally others playing that game of yours. You have a very good mind. You come up with a plan and get others to help you accomplish the plan. I've never seen you fail at that!" She touched her son's chin. "You get that from your father." Kevin beamed at that. She turned to Jimmy, "You," she waved at Rob. "Here's your brilliance! Rob is more Human every day because of your brains! An artificial intelligence that can taste and like or not like it!?" She pointed at Jimmy, "That is just unbelievable!" She waved at Rob, "Yet, there he stands because of you!"

Jimmy looked a bit bashful and admitted, "Uncle Tony and Uncle Scott did most of..."

"That's not what they said," Jole reprimanded. "They said you were invaluable to them. You thought in directions they hadn't considered." He smiled. "Don't downplay your part in this." He looked at them. "Say good-bye to Rob and Robbie. It will be just a few minutes for us, but ninety-three years for them."

"Wow," Ian pulled Robbies hand to his face, then brightened. "Wait, you can shut down and we can wake you when we get up!"

Robbie looked down at Ian. "But who'll keep Athena company?"

Ian's smile faded, "Oh, right." He looked at Athena. "You don't get a chance to rest, do you?"

Athena chuckled lightly, "I have a lot to do while you're all in stasis. I am monitoring and controlling the many robots working on the Ark and on Gaea. I monitor all messages from Earth, Mars, the mines around Jupiter, Tau Ceti, the various mining robots, the orbital processor and smelter..." she sighed. "I will be quite busy."

"All that for us!?" Kevin asked as his eyebrows rose.

"Yes," Athena answered. "That's why I'm here." She said logically. "To do this job. Don't worry, I don't get tired."

"Never!?" Ian asked. She shook her head.

They looked over at Wei's position. He was putting last minute touches and checking things. Joel walked over and again he was seeing the frantic scurrying of the many robots. Now there were some working on the wall and others were attaching the clear portion of what would be the dome. There were the lower sections posted on the wall. Others fit between them. Joel got the impression of tortilla chips, the new ones fit between the lower ones to seal the edges. Now Joel thought of Doritos, the spicy nacho ones. Then he wanted some tortilla chips and some salsa. He would get them when they revived again in a few minutes. For them. Ninety-three years from now. He saw the excavators dig the trench in both directions from the proposed wall. The rocky ground flew from the trench as two dug in a direction. There were four in total. Other robots were bringing the metal that made up the wall. It was going very quickly. Way faster than a Human could possibly do. They would not stop because Gaea hand turned away from Ran. What amazed Joel was they did it without light! The two moons, Adonis and Butes reflected enough light. Robots saw better than cats. They never took a break! He wondered about breakdowns. Were they repaired by Athena, using other robots! There were more of them every day! Designed and built by robots. Yes, Athena oversaw the process. She, Robbie, Rob, Robot, Apollo were the smart hammers. The robots on the Ark, on Gaea, and mining the asteroids...all of them got their intelligence from Athena. Humans were worried about robots taking over? They had! Joel wondered how many were here now. Did they outnumber Humans? The robotic pets, the gardeners...they probably did or were damned close. Giving the robots Human values and traits just didn't make sense. They may act very Human, but Humans programmed them to do that. Joel trusted Athena. She had proven to be trustworthy. She could never be mentally ill. Rita could be, but her work was double, even triple checked and not by Athena. He sighed. They would not know until it happened. He wasted time thinking about it.

He looked at the wall clock and calendar. He saw the displays for time on Earth's systems, he saw Epsilon's or Ran's system, and Tau Ceti's. There would be a universal time soon. Joel felt the beginnings of the headache and quit thinking about it.

"Look at Gaea!" Sara Beth smiled. "It will look alot different next time we see it."

Joel pulled Sara Beth closer to him, "I'm looking forward to it."

There were over two thousand residents on the Ark. Like spokes on a wheel there were four elevators that went from the Habitat Ring to the stasis pods. Joel didn't need to be up there to know what they were doing. Milling around chatting, preparing their children to get settled in their pods. If there was an emergency the pods could be jettisoned into space. The pod's power requirements were so low they could last for centuries. The pods could also handle entry into a planet's atmosphere. Could it be damaged? Sure. The hope was the pods could save lives! There were supplies to extend that life for six months. Rescue hopefully occurred before those supplies ran out. The children's pods would remain with their parents' pods. They had to! A child may not know how to use the supplies. There were training to all, but kids are kids. Parents would sacrifice their own supplies to save their children. Like the airlines, the parents were instructed to save themselves first to save their children afterward. But a parent is a parent and they often ignore that. How horrible would it be for the child if the parent dies! Leaving their child to die alone. Joel shuttered. There was also something to give the child and the parent if it proved they wouldn't survive. Yes. A suicide pill. It would kill quickly, comfortably and no trauma. The body simply stopped again. The emotions the parents would go through! If they didn't do it, the child would die suffering terribly. There were other options, even going back into the pods for a lengthy time to wait for rescue. There was a transponder that sent a destress signal. The hope the rescuer was Human or at least friendly. There was the chance they were picked up before they landed. You were at the mercy of whomever. It was risky. All of it!

They put their boys in their pods but waited for everyone else to get in their pods.

"We'll see you in a few minutes," Sara Beth said to the three and kissed them each.

"You'll be waking to the changes on the Ark," Joel smiled. "See you in a few minutes."

"And really ninety-three years later," Kevin grinned.

Joel grudged a nod, "You won't even be aware of it." He ruffled Kevin's hair. He kissed each son, "See you soon."

"Athena," Sara Beth began. "Activate Nesmith pods three, four and five."

"Certainly, Sara Beth," Athena's voice came back.

Joel grinned as Jimmy waved, the seal was activated, and the gas released. It seemed only seconds passed as the saw their sons surrendered to the stasis gas. He looked at Sara Beth and gave an empathetic look. He knew what was going through her mind. "It will be okay."

Sara Beth nodded and sniffed, "I know. They have a hellofa better future now. To save our children by endangering their lives!?

"Which we were doing on Earth!" Joel justified.

"I know, I know," Sara Beth sighed.

"They are breathing fresh, unpolluted air, the stresses are gone as endangering their lives..."

"I know!" Sara Beth almost growled. "They would be dead if we stayed. I know." She smiled sadly at Joel. "I'm their mother. I do this."

"I know," Joel hugged her. "That's your job. And you do it very well."

"See ya soon!" Hank said loudly as he helped Rita in her pod.

Rita rubbed her swell forming at her abdomen and waved. "See you in a minute. I love being weightless. I can move better. I may have to come up here in my last trimester."

"Sounds like an excellent plan," Sara Beth nodded and smiled, "As soon as I check to be sure everyone's in, we'll be in stasis, too." She looked up and spoke to the air. "Athena, has everyone gotten in their pods?"

"There are ten last ones getting in their pods now," Athena answered. "And you two."

Sara Beth nodded, "Let me know when they are in their pods." She looked at Joel, "I checked all the pods. They are all functioning properly."

Joel smiled, "Good."

"All pods but yours are now occupied, Sara Beth," Athena informed. "All are now operational."

"Very well," Sara Beth nodded and waved Joel in his. "If you will, Commander."

Joel smiled at her and kissed her. "See you soon," He rubbed Sara Beth's abdomen, "Take care of Mommy, Daylia." He watched as Sara Beth entered her pod and as the lids sealed, Joel heard and smelled the stasis gas release. The pleasant smell encouraged deeper inhalation. His last thoughts were about Gaea, Athena and the other robotic workers. He knew Athena, Rob, Apollo, even Robbie and Robot were lifeforms now. Sort of. He couldn't wait for what he would see when he would find when he woke up. Busy minds could not stop the stasis gas. Joel surrendered to the effects.