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They parted letting everyone know about the three additions coming for the Ark.
"Two boys and a girl," Angus told everyone.
To the Human eye, or just to the Human male eyes, Joel couldn't tell Davina was pregnant. Davina was pretty well endowed where her breasts were concerned, so he hadn't noticed the change. Joel smiled as he thought of all the new members of their community that were going to be born on Gaea. Daylia, Hank's and Rita's twins were to be born here. He knew Sara Beth would be heading up the design for the new clinic on the surface. The housing was going up now. The individual quarters were going to be spacious. The walls that would be raised were to be movable allowing each family to increase the space or dividing them up for new additions. Two levels of condominiums or apartments. For one thousand families. Two curved complexes with two hundred and fifty apartments on each level. On the outside in appearance they were the houses on Rainbow Row, just more of them. The lowest floor of the five was going to be for all, as in supplies, groceries, and a gathering place to dine like on the Ark. They couldn't lose the connection. There would be places that the people from Earth opened for clothing and even art, but there would be the clinics. There was no currency they'd use for now. Rachel or some other chef would open a restaurant that served great meals. Athena would be there as on the Ark watching and keeping everyone safe.
Joel had begun the reply to Mars and those from where they were from. He entered his authorization code to prove it was him even after more than a century.
"This is Commander Joel Kevin Nesmith commanding Ark II launched from Earth Monday 29 May 2330. We are doing the job we were sent to do. Where that is will remain undisclosed until we are settled. We have lost no one thus far. We will send word as to how we're doing in the future. Our computer, Athena, is working well with no problems."
He was having everyone on the Ark give their authorization codes which could be duplicated Joel thought, but hard to do. Two thousand of them!? The code was more than a fingerprint verification! It was a retinal scan and even a DNA verification! It was you and nearly impossible to fake. Athena would also be sending her code saying it was really her. She had never shown the slightest sign she would turn on them. Humans were suspicious of everything. An omnipresent eye watching all of them. Athena was a kind of goddess like she was named. The authorization would show it was them. The very fact that they got the message so quickly and replied impossibly quick would baffle all of them back on Mars. The message received and replied faster than light would baffle. The source would also baffle. The message buoy could be moved and wouldn't be traced. This would be five years after they were in stasis. Still too early for them to get the message and send that reply. Trust was the issue. He didn't trust a man wouldn't be a Human.
The next couple of weeks were going to be busy. Everyone was looking forward to the official planet dedication, birthday, anniversary, and any other event happening in August.
Joel and Hank went to see Medika and Anthony again. They also brought Sara Beth and Rita. When they got to the robotics lab things were busy as they were getting their various work done. Joel noticed an appendage for the lab computer moving over...skin? Like one of the sewing machines in the past, it plunged rapidly like a needle in the skin as it moved. Behind it were those dark hairs. Joel noticed a male body lying on a table nearby. It was the android body of Joel...minus the head again. He also saw Medika working on the head at a raised desk. Another such "sewing" appendage worked on the head...of Joel! Short bursts with the needle put hair at his right sideburn. The left side was done. It would be difficult to see it wasn't his head. It couldn't be as Joel's head was still attached. He did touch his head to reassure himself it was.
Sara Beth was fascinated, "My, God!" She looked at Joel. "It's you!" She shook her head, "Or at least your twin!"
Anthony looked up from a sheet covered torso he was working on, other than Joel's. Just the torso, no arms, or legs, or even a head! He brightened, "Good morning!" He pulled the sheet down a bit to show Hank the bare torso. Joel had seen Hank as they dressed and undressed before. He recognized Hank's fair complexion and musculature. No hair again, but Hank. "It's all here." He said as he leaned forward to convey confidence. "If you know what I mean." He brightened. "I can show you if you want to see."
Hank quickly held his hands up to stop Anthony from showing anything else, "No! I trust you." He bent toward Rita, Joel and Sara Beth. "Seeing your nude body with no hair, no legs or head..." he shook his head. "I'd rather not."
Joel nodded and muttered, "I know what you mean."
Sara Beth, having a medical background, was less disturbed by the body parts lying around. Rita was understandably more bothered, but she was coping.
"I know what you said about a show of force," Rita began. "A nearly indestructible Joel and Hank would be wonderful..." she looked at Medika. "They won't be Joel or Hank."
Medika shook her head, "Using the neural interface, it will be. They will be operating from in here." She touched Joel's arm. "We will attach the head of Joel and test it out, if you will."
"Sure," Joel nodded.
It took a few more minutes for the hair to complete. The skin of his left arm was slipped over the bluish muscles and Medika and Anthony were working with the thin probes, micro-soldering tipped things that went into the neck as they attached the head of "Joel." They ran another thing over his neck and along the arm as the seams were sealed. It looked like smooth unbroken skin. That took about two hours. Earth hours.
"His skeletal structure?" Sara Beth asked.
"Adamantium?" Hank asked with a smile.
Anthony gave a look that frowned, "Adamantium? Really?"
"No fictional metals used," Medika waved that off. "We have enough metals both natural and manufactured to use. What they all have, from Rob to Apollo all have a tough, flexible skeleton that won't break and difficult to pull apart."
"Any puncture by a projectile weapon like bullets will heal," Anthony continued. "Your skin and muscles."
"It's light and you will weigh just a little more than you do in real life," Medika held the interface device Joel knew, "Are you ready to test it out?"
Joel nodded. He felt the now familiar sensation as the contact points met. He opened his eyes and knew it wasn't quite right. The analogy he could think of was a pair of gloves you try that didn't fit right. You could move, he tried that and raised his hand. He felt it. He saw his right hand come up where he opened and closed his fist, wiggled his fingers. Again, it was a loose glove that could do it but not quite there. His vision was clear, but Joel felt like he was wearing glasses that were also, not quite right.
"This is the first run with you in control," Anthony said.
Joel turned to look at Anthony. He could see and identify Anthony, Medika and the others. "I get it." Joel said in a voice that was him, but one more time, not quite him.
"The problems your brain is trying to work through are being highlighted on the computer," Medika smiled waving at an image of "Joel' above him with portions highlighted in red. "That was the fine tuning we talked about."
"I understand," Joel said sitting up and threw "his" bare legs over the side. They had put on a pair of small white shorts on him. He lifted his left leg and watched the muscle work under the skin. He brought his left arm up and curled it, watched the bicep more with the balling muscle there. He looked like he'd just worked out. The muscles were pumped. Men often pumped weights before a date to show off a strong body.
"Inside you are the filaments," Medika explained. "You will feel things as you would in your natural body. Your brain knows how it should feel." She pointed at the illuminated body of Joel. It's telling us where the problems are." She pointed to the red sections that were glowing. "We'll fix those."
"By the end of the week," Anthony began, "You may not be able to tell!"
Joel pulled the waistband of his shorts away to look at his own crotch. It was all there...including the thick black-brown pubic hair.
"Really?" Medika asked with a smirk.
Anthony nodded, "Really."
Sara Beth laughed, "These men are sexual beings brought up thinking about virility and sex." She smiled at Joel and patted the real Joel with the neural interface connected. Joel saw himself laying like he was asleep. "As with most of the male members of our animal kingdom, men compete to show they are the best to father the next generation. Ramming horns for some, open combat for others and a lot of chest-pounding. There is little difference between the caveman and our modern man."
Medika grudged a nod, "Your right about that." She touched Joel's android on the arm. "You have the filaments running through this body. It connects with your brain as the nerves. You will feel everything just as you would in your body. Your brain knows how it should feel and is telling the computer where you don't feel like it should." She waved at the body of Joel attached to the neural interface. "Your mind there," she touched the android Joel on the temple, "is telling your brain here what it should feel. Essentially guiding the pathways for the filaments. Someone can brush your arm, and you will feel it." She smiled at him. "Close your eyes and leave your hand open."
Joel did feel something put in his hand.
"Without opening your eyes," Medika began. "Can you identify what it is?"
"It's a ball," Joel replied as he moved it in his hand. He felt his finger move over a smooth surface. He felt himself frown as he tightened his grip. "Stone?" He asked as he did his investigating of the sphere. It could be held in one hand and not heavy. He tightened his grip. He heard the crack and felt the ball crumble. He did open his eyes to see what he'd broken. It had been a white cueball? For a game of pool or billiards that had broken in his grip. "Sorry."
Medika smiled brushing his hand clear and clean. "That's okay. We have others." She looked at her husband, "Don't you?"
Anthony nodded, "Or we can make another," he shrugged. "You're going to have to learn to regulate your strength." He looked at Joel, "I bet you didn't even feel the strain."
"No," Joel answered.
"These sort of tests..." Medika began. "Are you show if you can receive the signals to your brain. It could have been a key or toy car. Was your brain getting the signals to tell you what it is?"
Joel sighed, "The best description is putting on a pair of gloves that doesn't fit right."
Medika smiled and nodded, "As your tailors we will make alterations and make it the best fit for you."
Anthony nodded, "I think as good as it can be, you'll always know." He brightened, "But it works!"
Joel looked at others working in the background and on other "parts." Using Athena to pull the elastic-like muscles and attaching it to parts of legs and arms. "Are you making everyone one of these?"
Medika nodded, "There may be some who won't want this." She shrugged. "I think the controlling powers such as you, Hank, your wives will need one. Nayef, Xolani...Just a few who need to be in control."
Joel saw some parts were definitely feminine. He glanced at Sara Beth. She was all natural. "Are you okay with this?"
The question seemed to surprise her. "We're doing this for security."
Joel nodded, "Yet, when you touched me," he waved at his unconscious form, "you touched that." He touched his android chest, "I'm in here. I'm talking to you from here."
Sara Beth's head hung slightly, "It will just take some time." She smiled reaching for his android head and touched a place on his forehead near his right temple, "They even included your little scar."
"We did a complete body scan to include everything," Anthony said.
Hank smirked a grin, "You guys have job security, you know?"
This trip took most of the day. They all had other jobs and they returned to their various assignments.
That week Joel and Hank went back to the robotics lab and each time Joel slipped into the android form and it felt better each time. The "glove" was fitting better. He had the manual dexterity to pick up a hair from a desktop and the strength to punch a hole in the bulkhead, which he never did, but he was benching more weight than he ever did. They tested the ball in his hand again and Joel was careful not to crush it. It felt different. He felt the light ball, rubbing his fingers over it and felt stitching. It had a pattern. "A baseball!" He said happily.
"Yes!" Anthony shouted triumphantly. "Are you ready for a final test?"
He turned to see the same sewing machine working on the body of Hank's android. The blond man was getting the hair to match his real hair! He was blond, but no person's hair was single colored unless it was dyed that way. The chest hair was blond, but a darker blond than on the top of his head. Joel looked back at Anthony, "Sure." He answered about the final test.
Joel entered the Dining Area and was greeted by his family. He gave his sons the usual greeting, but Ian shrank back from the hug a little.
"Dad," Ian began looking at his father, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Joel said happily. "Why do you ask that?"
"You just feel...different," Ian said.
As good as it was now, those that knew him best knew the difference. Joel looked at Rob and Robbie. "What do you sense?"
Rob smiled, "You are like me and Apollo."
Jim grinned, "They did it." He walked around Joel. "I knew they were doing it, but they wouldn't let me work on you."
"You aren't Dad," Ian stated a bit uncertain.
Sara Beth walked up, "Your father is in there..." she sighed. "But the body is not him."
Joel nodded, "We're doing this for safety."
"Safety from what?" Kevin asked.
Joel didn't want to scare them, "Such as when your Uncles Hank and Xolani and I first went to the surface of Gaea. If I had this," he touched his body, "I wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"He wouldn't have needed the environmental suit!" Jim said. "He doesn't need a space suit now. He doesn't breathe in there. He could go underwater..."
Joel looked at Ian, "What gave it away?"
Ian shrugged, "You look like Dad, but you don't feel like Dad when I hugged you. You don't really move like Dad."
Joel nodded and hugged his youngest.
"Your father is in the robotics lab and using the neural interface," Sara Beth explained and pointed at the android form of Joel. "All that is your father is operating from here."
"His soul?" Kevin asked.
Sara Beth nodded, "All of your father's thoughts..." she waved toward the upper level. "His body is up there, but his mind is here."
Hank walked over as he went to meet his family. He slapped Joel on the back and shook him slightly, "How's it going?"
Joel grinned and said proudly, "They all knew within a minute."
Hank's eyes widened, "Really?" He glanced around at the many others in the Communal Dining Area. No one looked alarmed or concerned. "I knew because you told me." He looked more critically at Joel. "I'm not sure if you hadn't I'd know." He shook his head. "Less than a minute?"
Sara Beth nodded a smile, "He looks like he's just worked out a few hours, which I know he didn't. Unless they have the workout equipment in the robotics lab." She looked at Joel. "Your movements are like you would do if your brain wasn't sending the right message to your limbs." She hugged Ian, pulling him back against her, "Even Ian knew it." Ian nodded his confirmation.
Hank shrugged, "We'll see if Rita and our girls notice when I do it."
Joel held his finger up to his lips, "And please, nothing to anyone. These are test runs."
All three boys nodded.
Joel excused himself and went to take back the android body and returned to the Dining Area where he greeted his family again as himself.
This was a maiden voyage for Joel and Hank. They could fool most on the Ark and a stranger wouldn't know. If the fooled the people that knew them best, the most, even for a second, that was an accomplished mission.
It was another two days before Hank tried it. He was the picture of perfection...physically. Rita and his daughters knew within fifteen seconds! Because they knew where their father had been and deduced it. Hank was Hank in the android body. His usual clowning self, but Rita knew after the first kiss. His daughters knew even before hugging him. It was Hank!
They tested him and Hank on one of these space walks. He and Hank were standing at the airlock door and Joel's internal warnings from his brain were sounding in his head. Hank was terrified! Joel didn't need the neural link with Hank to know that. They had done spacewalks before, but not uncovered.. No environmental suits. He saw Hank do as he was taught and blew any air out of his "lungs." They only used air to speak now. Hank squeezed his eyes shut. Air and any moisture would be sucked away into the vacuum of space. Joel heard the air in the airlock was sucked out, yet Joel felt nothing. "It's okay, Hank." He sent to Hank's mind. They wore magnetic boots, and Joel saw the airlock door open to allow them to exit on the bulkhead of the Ark. This massive expanse of greyish white that curved off from side to side. "Come on." Joel said to Hank, and he took Hank's hand. "I'm with you." He reassured. He felt Hank grip his hand tighter. Joel led them into a step out on the bulkhead. He turned Hank to face him, and Joel chuckled at Hanks seemingly holding his breath and tightly shut eyes. "Open your eyes, Hank."
Hank's right eye cracked open and he felt nothing, so he opened the other eye. It looked as if he relaxed holding the breath he didn't have to hold. A delighted surprise came on his face, and he said with his mind.
Joel tapped Hank's mouth, shook his head and touched his ears telling Hank he couldn't hear.
"We're not dead!" Hank said in Joel's mind excitedly.
"No," Joel chuckled, "We're not." He turned and pointed as the Habitat Ring was turning and that long window that allowed everyone in the Communal Dining room was coming around. "You do have an audience."
Again, upside down, the many faces of the students and adults had their faces pressed to the transparency. They were being flung against the roof of the Communal Dining area. Or rather the floor. They stood on it!
Joel switched his controls with Athena, "Don't anyone try this without a suit! Hank and I are in suits! We told you that. I am ordering you, no matter how old you are. You will die, if you're not in a suit! That is an order!"
The magnetic boots held them firmly against the Ark's hull. Joel and Hank waved at the many watching. Both live and by Athena.
They were getting Sara Beth's and Rita's bodies ready. Joel wasn't surprised that Sara Beth was reluctant to step into her android body. She did it but wasn't thrilled by it. It wasn't natural. She also didn't have the filaments inserted in her head and had to use the neural interface all used the first time. She did it in two hours periods to allow her body to return to itself.
Joel just mentioned it would be better if she had the filaments inserted and the connection was more secure.
Sara Beth took the headset off and touched his cheek in a caress. "I'm sure. One of the things that told me you were in that body was your eyes."
Joel smiled, "My eyes?"
"You've always had the most expressive eyes," Sara Beth explained. "When you look at our children..." she sighed, "When you look at me." She laughed lightly. "It's one of the major reasons I fell in love with you...aside from that gorgeous body of yours." She shrugged. "The eyes look like yours in that body, but you have a look of such love and compassion in your real body. That they can not recreate. There's something else in..."
"Sara Beth," Dana Carek's voice came sharp and urgent, "Joel, get to the Delivery Room immediately!"
Sara Beth's expression held panic. Joel was also alarmed.
"Larisa's baby is determined to come now!" Dana explained. "I can't stop it this time!"
Sara Beth handed Medika the headset and lunged off the lounging couch followed by Joel.
It was a short trip but seemed like they'd never get there. When they got there three medical personnel were working on Larisa. Ansh was looking over his wife as she suffered a contraction. He was out of the way, but naturally very worried.
"Nayef!" Joel said aloud. "Get to the Delivery room a minute ago. Ansh needs you and so do I."
"On the way!" Nayef's voice came back.
Larisa was crying as she shook her head, "I didn't do anything! I only got up to go to the bathroom! I swear!"
Dana nodded almost having to hold Larisa down, "Baby's have their own agendas." She reassured Larisa. "Your baby will be fine." She looked at Sara Beth and Joel. "I would have preferred the baby wait."
"You wanted at least another week," Joel said hoping the panic he felt wasn't heard in his voice.
"This baby is insisting!" Dana smiled. "I am going to have to do a C Section." She looked at Sara Beth. "I know stasis will stop the labor but will not allow any further development. It's safe." Dana looked at Larisa and Ansh. "I recommend putting her in stasis," she waved at Larisa. "Her and the baby. Larisa will be the baby's stasis chamber. After I take the baby, it will be fine." She promised.
"Then I will go into stasis, too." Ansh said as Nayef came with Tom.
Sara Beth nodded, "Her water broke again?"
Dana nodded, "Her contractions are about twenty minutes apart."
Sara Beth was instantly putting the guardrails up on the gurney. "Let's move them now." She patted Larisa's shoulder, "Stress is not good for a baby even now. Your baby will be fine."
They were rapidly moving Larisa and Ansh toward the elevator to take them up to the center of the Ark where all of the stasis chambers were.
"Have you thought of names yet?" Joel asked Ansh who was trying not to panic.
The diversion of subjects caught Ansh unaware, and he had to think. "What?" Then he nodded. "Yes! Since our baby is going to be born here. We thought of naming it after one of Gaea's children. Pontus." He grinned, "It's sort of a strange name, but Pontus if it's a boy and Pontia if it's a girl."
Joel grinned, "God or goddess of the oceans." He nodded, "Well, Gaea has a lot of ocean!" He shrugged. "We're naming our daughter after a fairy. Pontus? Why not?"
Getting them next to their stasis pod, they easily moved a weightless Larisa to her pod.
"We'll wait for the next contraction," Dana instructed. "We'll get her into stasis as soon as that one's over."
Joel knew there was a few minutes until the next one. He smiled at Larisa. "I hate you'll miss the party in a week, I promise we'll have a birthday party for Pontus."
"On Gaea!" Dana added. "Yours will be the first baby born on Gaea's surface."
Sara Beth smiled as she confirmed, "Right! We'll be moving down to Gaea after this stasis for a century." She laughed, "Stasis isn't sleep, nor are you awake."
"We'll take you in the pod to the surface," Dana added. "I'll do the C Section while you and the baby are in stasis. You'll be a mother of a newborn at the finished clinic on the surface!"
"The first of many babies," Sara Beth said happily.
"You'll wake up on a living world!" Joel said and saw her smile. "With trees, flowers and lots of fresh air! Birds singing! We're creating a paradise!"
Dana held up something that attached to a person's face, "To start the stasis gas, I will have you breathe this more directly, so you pass it to your baby better." She looked at a monitor she had over Larisa. "And here comes your last contraction."
"Breathe," Sara Beth coached as Larisa began to squirm and the contraction built. "Remember your breaths." And she did the breathing with Larisa. "In and out like a puppy."
"The last one," Larisa muttered in pain.
The contraction lasted a few minutes and then eased. Dana attached the mask to Larisa and the stasis gas started. It only took a few minutes to get the gas to work. Dana took the mask away and had the pod closed.
"Okay," Dana relaxed. "She's in stasis." She looked at Ansh. "Now, you." She waved at the pod next to his wife. "In you go, Daddy."
Ansh smiled, "Thank you." He looked at all of them there, "All of you." He looked at Sara Beth and Dana, "We will have other children. Will this happen again?"
Dana smiled shaking her head, "No one can accurately tell you it can't but it's highly unlikely. You should have healthy children in the future." She pointed at Larisa's prone form in the pod. "She's healthy. This pregnancy just got confused." She waved him into the pod. "When you wake, you'll have a wife and a healthy baby."
Ansh got in the pod, the lid closed, and you heard the stasis gas start.
"Birds," Dana repeated looking at Joel.
Joel nodded, "Birds, butterflies and all those other creatures."
"How are these birds going to know how to be birds?" Dana asked.
"You'll have to ask the other Dana," Joel shrugged. "Dana Crenshaw is the animal behavior expert."
"Birds know how to test their wings and when to leave the nest," Sara Beth stated. "Butterflies are born knowing what to do."
"Larks, swallows, even canaries," Joel grinned. "The first generations will be born here and taken down to New Charleston. If we've put the bugs they need to eat and all that. By the time we get there, we'll have flocks of birds!"
Dana nodded, "Thanks for not telling what the name of the baby will be." She grinned.
"That was not so easy," Joel admitted. "Little Pontia will be very well loved."
When Joel came down for the evening meal he was hugged by his sons.
"You went out there without a suit!?" Ian pointed at the large window.
"I had on a suit," Joel said back. "The suit I was in where you asked if it was me."
"You had no air!" Ian said.
"I don't breathe in that suit," Joel explained. "Only to talk do I need air. I talk with the interface, and I ordered no one to try this without a suit."
"I'd love to know what it's like," Jim said.
"You can try one of the A2s when in the lab," Sara Beth said.
"Tomorrow I check the exploration side on Adonis and Butes," Joel said.
"Without a suit!?" Kevin balked.
"I'll be in a suit!" Joel corrected. "I'll be piloting a Harpy-Stinger in the suit and look around...in that suit!"
"Why?" Ian asked.
"To see if he can," Sara Beth answered. "If anything goes wrong...your Dad will be here and safe." Her look to Joel told him how important his safety was to her.
Joel smiled at her bringing her to him as he kissed her tenderly, "I love you."
Adonis and Butes are the two moons that orbited Gaea. Butes was the smaller of the two. They were not the size of Earth's moon. Adonis was first as it was closer at the moment. It wouldn't be a difficult trip. Joel and Hank got in a Harpy-Stinger that had the antigravity fields installed. Joel had walked on the Earth's moon, which was not as wonderful as Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. By now millions of people had walked on the moon and now lived there. It was a unique experience for Joel...in the environmental suit he had looked up seeing the Earth in the sky. Small, but very big at the same time. So far away. Now he couldn't spot Sol in the sky without someone guiding his eye.
Gaea was a beautiful planet, and they were changing its color. There was still the vast gray of the ocean. It was really just one vast ocean. The twin rings were vibrant with colors of red and yellow and depending on Ran, they deepened or lightened their colors. The hint of blue could be seen at times. The upper ring rotated around the northern hemisphere, while the lower one was around the southern hemisphere. Yet they were clearly separate rings, hundreds of kilometers apart. Again, the view he got was everywhere at once. That was something Joel had difficulty getting used to.
"Ready to start?" Hank asked from the copilot's position.
Joel literally tore his attention from what he saw, "Oh, yes." He then gave the Harpy-Stinger a little throttle. "Set course for Adonis." The Harpy-Stinger moved forward.
"Engaging Alejandro's warp bubble!" Hank announced happily.
Joel chuckled, Hank and Joel called the bubble that formed around them warp bubbles and nodded, he moved what he'd been given to begin contracting space and there was the "whoosh" he heard as the Harpy-Stinger shot forward. The whoosh was for Joel because he wanted it. Adonis wasn't that far away, but using thrust alone would have taken hours. With Alejandro's quantum drive it would only take minutes.
With Adonis just below, or above...they were close to that moon now. They maneuvered closer to the surface and Joel did feel the weak gravity pull on the Stinger. It didn't take much power for the Antigravity Field to slow them down. It was a moon, not the one Joel knew well around Earth, but a moon. A rock in space.
The gravity on Adonis was less than on the Earth's moon. He and Hank were tethered together and the unbreakable line from the Harpy-Stinger kept them attached. They both wore the jetpacks that would assist them in getting where they wanted to go. Magnetic boots wouldn't work here. The boots they had on were heavier than they were but would only help so much. Joel barely felt the weight. The various radiation in space was damaging to Humans and life itself. The solar flares and invisible toxic energy would not bother Joel or Hank in the bodies now. They were not invulnerable. They could be destroyed, but they'd likely know before they were. Their android bodies, but not them safe on the Ark.
They were men of habit and turning off the air and life support occurred to Joel, which he dismissed shaking his head. He was breathing...on the Ark! He attached the teether to himself and Hank. They were attached to the Stinger. The hatch opened...
"Another giant leap for mankind!" Hank declared to Joel in his mind.
"You're going to wear out that line," Joel teased. "We've done a lot of leaping recently."
"With more to come!" Hank added.
Joel lightly shoved Hank out first to step on Adonis' rocky surface. They had chosen the smoothest place to land. Unlike the moon they left around Earth, there wasn't a lot of loose sediment to leave footprints.
They stayed and did the visual survey and gathered a rock or two. Then did the same with Butes. The trip back to the Ark was quick. The whole trip took about six Gaean hours.
Joel blinked a few times as the connection was broken, and he saw Sara Beth smiling over him.
"Another successful mission, Commander," Sara Beth congratulated kissing him.
Joel ran a hand over her face caressing, "I was out there thinking how beautiful it was." He smiled. "Until I saw you. You are the most beautiful thing I've seen in this universe."
The day before the big trip to Gaea was very busy. Not to work on Gaea's or the Ark's future but to make sure all would be ready for their descent to Gaea. Jim was so excited he could barely sit even a minute. All three of Joel's sons were anxious to get to this party. It was chaos!
"Okay! Enough!" Sara Beth announced loudly. She stood in the living area of their quarters. "This is your mother speaking as well as one of your doctors." She pointed at her three sons. "Tomorrow will be fun, but if you don't calm down you might fall asleep in the middle of it!" She smiled, "Calm down. Relax and get sleep..." she shrugged. "Or I put you in stasis until it's all done!"
"You wouldn't!" Kevin said in shock.
"I don't believe you," Jim said with just a hint of doubt.
"Based on the many idle threats I've given you in the past," Sara Beth said firmly. "You know I won't?"
Joel chuckled, "She has the authority."
The three did slow down and with great control they forced themselves to calm down.
"I don't want to ruin your happiness or joy," Sara Beth explained. "Tomorrow will be a long day. If you don't prepare yourselves, you'll be exhausted not even halfway through." She waved toward their rooms. "Please, get ready for bed."
It took self-control not to laugh at three deflated boys go to their rooms, but Joel did it.
Sara Beth turned to Joel, "You too, Mister."
The beginning of the trip was again chaotic. Not just for the Nesmith family but for the whole Ark! They had sent supplies they needed down since the day before by the Space Elevator. Their robot assistants had brought the food in stasis cabinets, various trees and plants into place. Loading over two thousand people into the two vessels to take them down took over an hour starting at 02:00. Two hours into the new day on Gaea. The many children, including parents of some of the younger Ark residents, were talking loudly and excited, enjoying the weightlessness. Loading both Harpy-Busses, it took that long to get them onboard and ready to go. With Athena's help, they accounted for everyone and left no one behind, except for Ansh and Larisa Bhatt who were in stasis.
Dana asked worriedly to Sara Beth, "Are you sure some medical people shouldn't stay behind with them?"
"There is," Athena reassured her. "I will never leave them. You know that." She appeared next to them. "I never left any of you when you were in stasis. Trust that."
"You know when all of us were in stasis," Sara Beth nodded. "Athena was there."
Even Robbie, Rob, Robot and Apollo were going.
"Everybody ready?" Joel asked.
The bay doors opened. Joel released the Harpy from the Ark and propelled them out. Joder was Joel's copilot and Angus was Hank's. Both were skilled pilots. If necessary, Athena could pilot them back in an emergency.
There was the usual choppiness as they entered the atmosphere and gravity took hold. Wings were extended and the choppy feel eased as they drifted down, held aloft by the air as the crafts became airplanes. They lowered toward the New Hawaiian Islands and New Charleston. Joel got that feeling of coming home again. Lowering quickly they soon could see the large patch of green under the clear dome. Near the base of the Space Elevator was the newly constructed hanger where two large doors opened. The hanger was large enough for the two Harpy-Busses to fit with the wings expanded. Both, however, retracted the wings as they activated the antigravity field. They used the jets to keep the descent steady and on course. Hank lowered the bus to a gentle landing and Joel lowered his bus next to Hank's. They all heard the hanger doors close and the rush of air in the hanger. Gaea's air was still too thin. The air pumped into the hanger was breathable.
"Okay," Joel said standing. "Exit and we'll all go to the city center and begin this celebration! There is a tram that will take everyone, but it's not that far. You can wait or just walk. Above or below, it will be a nice walk. I prefer to walk." He grinned down at Ian. "Some with small children may want to ride the tram. Those near the end of their pregnancies might want to walk." He hugged Sara Beth to him as he laughed, "As much energy as my children had before this trip down, I think...no I insist we walk. Just follow the sidewalk!"
They took the stairs up into the dome. The sidewalk was new. It stretched from the Space Elevator Base to the city center. The Romans invented concrete. What was running on the ground was again the mixture of fine sand and Wurtzite Boron Nitrate. It was the galactic miracle substance. When Ran burst into life, this substance spread everywhere. Looking at as you walked on it...it looked like smooth poured concrete. It didn't feel like concrete. It was lighter. The whitish gray strip was exactly that, a strip that led you to the buildings' beginnings.
Joel put his hand on Jim and Ian, "Look, because it will look a lot different in..." he looked at Kurt and Brice, "What? A hundred more years?"
"One hundred and eighteen years," Kurt nodded. "Terran years. One hundred and three Gaean years."
"Terran years?" Ian asked.
"Earth years," Joel translated. "Earth is Terra."
"Oh," Ian nodded.
"This walk will be lined by trees, flowers and other bushes when you come next," Joel pointed all the way to the town center. "The chittering of chipmunks, squirrels, birds in those trees. The singing of birds, but unlike on the Ark, they will be real!"
"Why so long?" Ian asked a little impatient and disappointed.
"To give the atmospheric processors time to finish producing breathable air and the trees time to grow." Joel answered.
Joel got a foretaste of what was coming. Kids were loud and the parents were also loud. Laughter. Playing. Birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated. Jim's cake was brought out and yes, enough cake for everyone to have his special three-chocolates cake. Chloe's was a strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream frosting, also enough for everyone to sample. Jim got a game and his own micro-tools he needed to work on the robots! The tools he loved the most! The small "screwdriver" given had a lighted tip and a micro-camera. He could see what he worked on. The micro-soldering tool allowed him to work closely on any part of the robot, android or computer circuit he chose.
"Don't lose those," Joel warned. "It has a case to store them when not using."
Jim hugged the two tools to his chest, "I won't!" He promised.
Chloe didn't get toys or games. The thing she liked the most she opened and gasped. It wasn't the standard overalls. It was a dress of flowing material that she could change! A chameleon material that was computer activated. Hard to make and expensive...on Earth. Here? Not so much. Yes! It was blue, she changed it to yellow, then gold, then purple...her eyes grew. "It's beautiful!" She held the dress up to her body. "I can't make up my mind which color!"
Hank nodded, "You can think about that while in stasis. You have a century to decide." He grinned as Chloe slammed her body against Hank.
"Thank you!" Chloie said excitedly.
"That's not the only clothing you got," Rita said pointing to another box.
Chloe picked up the box and tore it open and a look of disappointment came, "Coveralls?"
"Look at it more carefully," Hank advised.
Chloe looked at the same material everyone wore. She turned it and saw the "Ark" logo on the upper left side over a person's heart and her eyes widened at what she saw. As children on the Ark, they normally don't have a position or job symbol. Hank was Engineering, Rita was computers. There was the dark blue at the shoulders for science and math. Now Chloe looked at the bubbles where the job symbol would have been. The Math Circle in bubbles. The "equals" bubble was at the top of five bubbles. It was a yellowish-gold. Clockwise to the right was the "x" for multiplication in bright red. Continuing the rotation was the "-" sign for subtraction in blue. Next to that was the symbol for "divided by" in pink. The last one was the "plus" sign in green. All connecting and overlapping slightly.
"You are math," Hank shrugged. "Far better than I am..."
Rita nodded, "And better at it than I am. So much so we're giving you your own place on the Ark."
Joel grinned, "I can multiply and divide, much more than that gives me headaches."
"Your biomathematics are used with the diagnostic equipment," Sara Beth added. "Blood counts, blood gas, all things needed that my team uses to treat patients are so important! And accurate!"
"You are your own department," Rita said.
Hank looked at Joel and Sara Beth, "I knew this was coming!" He threw his arms out helplessly. "She was ten when the school she went to accused her of cheating!"
Chloe was blushing as she said, "Dad..." in that way you did when embarrassed.
"What!?" Joel said in shock.
"Yes!" Hank said adamantly. "Her professor said Chloe had to be cheating."
"She didn't write down how she got the answer," Rita agreed. "Calculus and Trigonometry!"
"As an engineer," Hank boasted, "I use Trigonometry all the time. Angles and distance...Geometric shapes that are twisted..."
Joel waved him down, "Yes, yes, Geometry on steroids. In three dimensions, I got it."
"She was taking college level advanced trig at ten! And passing! Putting other students in her dust!"
Chloe was even more red, "Daaad."
"She did it in her head!" Rita said. "All the extra writing was a waste of time for Chloe."
"Because he couldn't get the answer in his head alone," Hank added. "This kid, his words not mine, couldn't do it in her head!"
"And?" Sara Beth asked impatiently.
"We challenged him to a math battle!" Hank said dramatically. "The university gave six problems to solve. The same problems and she got all six right! Doing it in her head!"
"The professor didn't even do it right showing his work!" Rita stated. "Chloe even knew where he went wrong and explained it to the other professors where and how."
"I was determined to keep her a child!" Hank said bringing Chloe in for a hug and kiss. "My beautiful, genius daughter was not going to become one of those brainy math nerds! Who had problems relating to other Human Beings! No! They're warped and..."
"Not unlike anyone you know?" Joel teased.
Hank smirked and then looked superior for a second, "Yes, if you must know. She would have a good upbringing."
"What happened to the professor?" Sara Beth asked.
Rita grinned, "The other professors were so angry. I knew they'd fire him, but he had tenure."
"Tenure or not," Hank continued. "He was in deep..." he was going to say the word but got slapped lightly by Rita.
"What's tenure?" Ian asked.
"Meaning he'd been there so long he couldn't just loose his job," Rita explained.
"Oh," Ian nodded.
"Hank pleaded with them not to fire him," Rita smiled taking Hank's arm.
"Providing the professor sincerely apologized to Chloe," Hank nodded. "Which he did."
"Of course, he did! He was wrong!" Rita stressed.
Ian was eating a piece of Chloe's cake. He held up his little plate. "I like your cake, Chloe."
"Another prodigy," Hank brought Rachel forward. "It's Rita's recipe..."
"And Rachel ran with it!" Rita touched her youngest daughter's hair.
"You made enough for everyone on the Ark," Jim challenged.
"No," Rachel corrected. "I made a cake for Chloe and family. I gave Athena, because it was never written down, and she helped me bake the rest."
"It tastes so much like strawberries!" Ian said impressed.
"Fresh strawberries," Rachel explained. "You have everything needed put out. Having the eggs reach room temperature on the inside, mixing the wet ingredients until it becomes one and adding the dry ingredients slowly, stirring constantly..."
"How'd you learn all this?" Sara Beth asked.
"I watched a lot of chefs who explained how and when," Rachel shrugged, "It makes sense."
"I can't decide which one I like best," Ian complained.
"Who is your favorite composer?" Joel asked.
Ian thought a few seconds, "I can't choose just one."
"Right," Joel nodded. "The song is their cake. You can like several. It's the composer and musician who makes the cake. When you play...say Mozart, you add you as a baker. When you make the musical cake, no one else can duplicate it. When Lunga plays the same song, he and the composer make a unique cake. Both are wonderful."
"Oh," Ian nodded. "I like them both."
The celebration went on full steam and the noise level grew. Music, dancing, and laughter. As Ran seemed to travel across the sky, Joel had Athena announce to everyone to gather around the raised circle in the sidewalk. There was to be a fountain also around the circle which was not working now. Wide enough that all four spouts of shooting water in the air, the Angle Oak in the center would have room to expand. It would expand! Oak Trees lived hundreds to a thousand years.
Joel got near the hole prepared at the center and held the sapling that was only a foot high at the moment. "My friends," he began and everyone heard him through the filaments or earbuds. He hefted the sapling, "Look at this little tree. You know it is the Angel Oak from my home, Charleston, South Carolina. There were trees as old, if not older than this one, but this one was chosen as was the decision to name this colony on Gaea New Charleston. I'm humbled. I've heard the word hero used and all I am is a man chosen to make sure this Ark does what it is supposed to do. Start a world, made up of life we brought from Earth and make it thrive." He grinned. "Like this clone, for it is the Angel Oak. It's not a seed from the Angel Oak, it is the Angel Oak. Like this colony, it will be given what it needs to grow and expand." He waved at the buildings before and behind him, "This colony of New Charleston was also given what it needs to grow and expand. We will grow. We need to get down here soon as we can as we are going to have a hard time with our new arrivals." He looked at Sara Beth, then Rita and the other women he knew were pregnant. "I know we have a nursery planned, preschool and daycare. That will be a fulltime job for a lot of people on the Ark." He looked at Dana Carek. "How many now?"
"Fifty-five as of this morning," Dana replied. "I, and my team will be ready. Larisa Bhatt is in stasis and will have her baby down here..."
"In a hundred years!" Hank added.
"But she will have the first of many babies born on Gaea," Dana said positively. "She and the baby will be fine."
Joel smiled, "We will be sure they will be. Like this small sapling, we will love and nurture them and this tree. In the hundred plus years, this colony and the Angel Oak will be unrecognizable! This oak will be huge! This colony will be huge. Both will continue to grow and thrive for centuries more!" He put the sapling in the hole then he and Sara Beth pushed the loose dirt in to cover the roots leaving the sapling to the open air and in Ran's light. Joel stood smiling. "Welcome to your new home!" He looked up, "We are a species that love celebrations and there will be another in, what we will consider a week or two, but will be more than a century." He sighed contently. "I say again, I look forward to the squirrels and birds singing. Butterflies! I love butterflies!" He held his finger up, "Then, I will truly feel at home!"
He looked around, "I drafted a reply to Mars. I'll send it to everyone. You look it over, make suggestions, but add your authorization code. Once finalized, we will prepare to send it by Athena in five years. Once all is done we will return to stasis and wake to a new world. Our world."