The Earthrise Trilogy

by Colin Owen

  They all scurried off after Jake with Zeek keeping up the rear. They made it just in time as Beast and his followers broke the tree line. There were more of them than they'd seen at Beast's camp, they just kept coming out of the trees, dozens -- no, hundreds of them.

  "This is bad," Jake whispered, "they're bound to see the ship."

  Danny had been given charge of the glider's radio set, so Jake sent him further into the forest to make contact with Roy.

  "Tell him what's happening and ask him what he wants us to do."

  Danny set off silently into the trees. Beast had discovered the packed boxes and was screaming instructions to his men to, 'tear the place apart until they're found.'

  Behaving like a mad man, he began to destroy the boxes and their contents. Mary looked on with sadness as all her things were violated.

  "Scum bag," she said, under her breath, "we should have finished him off when we had the chance."

  "Never mind precious, where we're going we won't need any of that stuff, and remember, he won't be able to follow us."

  Dave held her as close as he could whilst crouching, and she smiled at him for his strength.

  Danny returned so silently that he made them jump as he appeared.

  "This is the plan," he said, and explained all that Roy had told him. He got some surprised looks from them, but no arguments. They all agreed what they would do and turned back to see what Beast was up to. He was standing, staring into the air, arms outstretched as if performing a ritual of some sort.

  "I don't like the look of this," Zeek said, "I've seen this kind of thing before, it's an incantation. He's calling up evil spirits."

  Martha came to his side, "Don't worry," she said, "we have access to a higher power than they do, come on, let's pray."

  Those who were believers held hands and prayed. They'd just said, "Amen," when two dark shadows appeared in front of Beast. All the followers cowered on the ground, but Beast stood upright and proud. The spirits spoke to him and vanished. "COME ON," he screamed at his followers, "they're behind the cabins GET THEM."

  There was pandemonium as Beast's followers ran in all directions. The cabins and those hiding behind them were quickly encircled, there was no way of escape.

  "Watch for the ship," Jake ordered, "that will be our sign."

  The filthy followers dragged them out into the open, in front of the cabins, and surrounded them, at least thirty deep.

  "What are you going to do now vermin?" Beast taunted. Knives, makeshift spears and clubs where pointed at them. "One move," Beast said, "and it's your last."

  The stench was truly awful and young Paul couldn't help himself.

  "Don't you ever take a bath?" he said, holding his nose. Beast flew into a fury and grabbed Paul dragging him away from the rest.

  "So, you want me to take a bath do you, then let's find some water."

  Beast dragged Paul towards the lake with some difficulty, whilst his followers made sure that no one could come to Paul's aid. They reached the water's edge and Beast picked Paul up and threw him in. Paul turned a neat summersault in mid air and landed on his feet, on the water.

  "WHAT!" Beast screamed, in disbelief, and tried to reach him, but Paul stepped back further out onto the lake and said, "What's up scum bag, can't you swim?"

  Beast turned to his followers and screamed, "Get him." Confusion ensued.

  "Out of the mouth of Babes," Jake shouted, pushing several of the followers so hard that they cut a swathe through the ranks opening up a gap. No one needed telling what to do next, as one, they rushed through the gap towards the lake. The startled followers were in such disarray that the escape was easy. Dave and Mary grabbed the remaining kids and tore off onto the water to join Paul, whilst Jake, Zeek, Betty and Martha deflected the weapons that were thrown at them. Seeing that their weapons were useless, the hoard rushed at them screaming obscenities, and vile threats. The righteous ran onto the lake and headed towards the middle. The hoard tried to follow but fell as they hit the water and sank into it. They piled up several layers deep at the waters edge, stumbling over each other, and were unable to follow their prey any further.

  The Thomas family had regrouped, along with the others, and were watching this pathetic show from far out on the lake.

  "They sure are a lame bunch," Paul said, "but at least some of them got a bath."

  They all laughed, and as they turned away, they saw the ship coming silently towards them over the water.

  "All aboard," Roy called out, as the ship came to a stop in front of them. He helped them to board then took a last look at the commotion on the beach near the cabins, he blew the loudest raspberry anyone had ever heard and closed the hatch. Roy made sure everyone was seated and said, "Next stop Eden."

  The ship silently lifted up into the air and Roy fired the rockets. The acceleration was fierce and things shook a bit, but orbit was attained in a couple of minutes.

  Roy turned and said, "Now all we have to do is find the ship." The kids laughed, but Dave and Mary weren't sure if he meant it or not.

  "Hello mother, this is rescue, over."

  "What's with the mother stuff Roy, did it go as planned?"

  "Not quite as planned Phil, but they made it OK. We'll be with you in a few minutes. Over."

  "OK Roy, the door's open and the kettle's on, over and out."

  They soon sighted the big ship, and Roy manoeuvred to the cargo bay with great skill. The magnetic drive was used to pull them inside and the bay doors closed behind them.

  "That's it folks, we've arrived. Just allow time for the air pressure to normalise and we can disembark."

  The buzzer sounded to let them know that the air had reached the correct pressure, so Roy opened the hatch. They all left the small ship and floated through the cargo bay to the hatch leading to the passenger cabin. Roy waited for the stragglers and opened the hatch. They passed through into the darkened passenger cabin, where Clare waited until she heard the hatch close before hitting the light switch.

  The lights came on amid cheers, applause, laughter, and shouts of welcome. The warmth of the welcome overcame the Thomases, and both Mary and Dave broke down in tears. It took several minutes before Dave could compose himself enough to say a simple, "Thank you."

  Steve said, "You're welcome Dave, and the rest of you, it's good to have you here with us, now come and take your seats, we need to set off for the Moon."

  Roy made sure they were safely settled and found his way to the cockpit.

  "Welcome back son," Phil said, "I'll give you mother..."

  Both men laughed and Roy took his seat ready for the start of the motors.

  "Right folks, get ready for the big one, Trion in three, two, one..." The mighty Trion drive kicked in and pinned everyone back in their seats. The acceleration was enormous, but only lasted a few seconds, though it seemed longer to those who weren't used to it. Phil left the monitor screens on for the newcomers, one showing Earth getting smaller, the other, the Moon growing larger.

  "Wow," Danny said, "look at how fast we're going."

  Right on cue, Phil came over the intercom announcing,

  "Our current speed is 150,000 miles per hour, we're keeping it down a bit so that our new friends can experience a little space travel."

  "Did you hear that?" Danny said, to Paul, "150,000, I wonder how much faster it can go?"

  Paul looked back at him a little non-plussed, Paul was always the laid back one.

  Tris, who was sitting close to the youngsters, leaned over, "Hi Danny, hi Paul, I'm Tris, I'll tell you all about the ship when we get to Eden if you like. There's so much for you to see there, it's going to be really exciting."

  It wasn't long before the big ship settled down into the Moon's atmosphere and was soon skimming across the surface as it had done on the first trip all those years before. The Moon Base became visible first, set against the side of a crater, and as the ship slowed, Eden itself came into view, nestling by its waterfall. Thousands of cattle
and sheep grazed on the endless grasslands, and trees were growing along the riverbanks.

  "It's so beautiful Dave," Mary said, through her tears, "there's nothing bad or evil here, just peace and love."

  "Yes, I can feel it too," Dave replied, "it truly is paradise."

  "That it is," Clare added, "and it'll be all the better for your presence."

  Now they were all blubbering again, even Steve this time. Tris looked over to the other kids and said, "Grown ups!"

  The ship landed and Nancy Fuller opened the hatch. Sunlight burst into the passenger cabin.

  "Listen," she said, and they all went silent. They could hear the sound of birds singing and cattle lowing in the distance. "I love that sound," she said, "welcome, everyone, to Eden, the most blessed place in all of God's creation."

  She gestured to them to leave the ship and they willingly complied.

  The Thomas family were given the privilege of going first, and Dave stood aside for Mary who stepped out of the ship to be greeted by all the other Edenites. Kay and Sam walked up to her with outstretched arms saying, "We've prepared a place for you, follow us."

  Together, all the Edenites escorted the Thomases to their new home. Everyone had chipped in to help build and furnish it. It was by far, the grandest house in Eden, set by the river and it's wonderful trees. Kay and Sam led them inside and said, "We'll leave you to find out where everything is," and left the speechless Thomases to do just that.

  Danny, Sarah, and Paul ran off to bag the best rooms for them selves, but Mary and Dave just stood and looked around at the most wonderful house they had ever seen. The kids soon returned, very excited and shouting, "Mummy, daddy, you must come and see, there are clothes in all the closets, and you can see the lake from the upstairs windows."

  Dave and Mary gathered the children around them and calmed them down. "First," Dave said, "we must give thanks for this wonderful house, and all the wonderful people who have rescued us and made us so welcome here."

  He knelt to pray, and his wife and children joined him. It was a grateful and very happy Thomas family that went to bed that night, and sleep was sweet.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter 13.

  Celebrations

  It was some days later when a knock came on the Thomas' door. It was Kay and Sam. "Hi folks, we thought we'd leave you to settle in a while before disturbing you. Is everything OK?" Kay said this whilst gesturing to the house.

  "OK?" Mary replied excitedly, "Everything is wonderful, just wonderful. How can we ever thank you all for such kindness?" Kay and Sam just smiled.

  "We owe our survival to a singularly great man who had a vision many years ago it's thanks to him that we are all alive today. He created Lark, this Lunar Ark, here on the moon in case of a disaster, and we were blest to be given a place here. He himself, never made it, he was killed by the bunch of ruthless idiots who let that virus lose on earth all those years ago."

  "That's so sad," Mary said, "what was his name?"

  "General Hammond," Sam answered, "his son John and his wife are here with us, John and Lisa Hammond, and you'll find a memorial to the general in the central square. We often meet there for special occasions, speaking of which, we would like you to come to our wedding. We wanted you to be the first to be invited."

  Kay gave Sam's arm a squeeze.

  "We'd really like Paul and Sarah to be our page boy and bridesmaid."

  Dave and Mary were once again overwhelmed by the love they were being shown in Eden, neither of them could answer, but Paul and Sarah had no such problem.

  "We'll do it!" they said, in unison, causing Sam and Kay to laugh.

  "That's wonderful," Kay said, to them both, "we'll let you know when, as soon as we know ourselves."

  Dave and Mary were still struggling to speak and so just waved as Sam and Kay left.

  "They're really nice folks Sam, I'm so glad we were able to rescue them from that awful place."

  "Me too, I don't think we'll be going back there again."

  ❧

  "We destroyed the radio Steve, and sank the glider in the lake. I don't think they'll find it, they seemed to have an aversion to water, you wouldn't believe the stench."

  "Sounds terrible, Jake," Steve said, "I'm so glad you all came back, and the Thomases, it must have been really tough for them trying to bring up a family down there. They'll blossom here in Eden, I just know it."

  "We destroyed the berry plants too, it seemed like the right thing to do."

  "Yes, I agree, in the wrong hands they could be used for all kinds of evil."

  Steve thought for a moment then said, "I've got Tris working on some modifications to the main ship; Clare and I are retiring and going on a trip. Most folk know about it by now, but as you've been away, I thought I'd tell you about it personally."

  "So where are you going Steve, or is it a secret?"

  "Ha, it's a secret for now, but I'll announce it soon."

  The two friends parted smiling.

  "I've just come back, and you're about to leave!" Jake called out to Steve as he went. "Was it something I said?"

  It was several weeks later when Tris caught up with Steve. "How's it going Tris? Sorry I haven't been to see you lately, I've been busy planning our trip."

  "No problem Steve, I needed the time anyway, it's quite a task you've set me, I even had to pull John out of retirement to help me, but things are going well now. John is looking after the internal modifications to the ship, whilst I concentrate on the Trion drive. I have a few ideas to go at, but no real progress to report yet, I'll let you know if anything breaks."

  "Good enough Tris, tell John I'm sorry he had to come back to work."

  Steve watched as Tris walked away. He had grown up so fast and was quite the man now. 'I wonder...' He thought to himself.

  Clare was busy doing nothing, which she seemed to enjoy more and more as she did it.

  "Hi Sweetie, glad I caught you. Erm...What do you think of Tris?"

  "How do you mean Hun?"

  "Well,...Do you like him?"

  "Ah, I get it," she replied, "you want to take him with us as company for Hope."

  Steve just stood there aghast.

  "Guilty as charged," he said, a little embarrassed, "we may be gone a long time, and I don't want her to be lonely, and, well...She is growing up."

  Clare looked at him with that warm knowing look and said,

  "Perhaps we should ask her about it."

  "I intended to Sweetie, but thought I'd run it past you first."

  "So I'm your yard-stick am I?" She teased.

  "Yep," he said, "always have been, always will be."

  "I don't suppose you've mentioned it to Tris either."

  "No Sweetie, he knows nothing about it, I thought I'd see how Hope responded before going down that road, the whole thing may be a non-starter."

  "OK then, leave Hope to me, I'll be seeing her shortly. It may come better from me."

  "I see," Steve said, smiling, "it's a woman thing."

  They both laughed, and Hope walked in right on cue. Seeing them laugh was not an unusual sight, so Hope just breezed by with a, "Hi all, anything to eat?"

  Steve made a manly exit and Clare followed Hope into the kitchen.

  "Where did dad go? It's not like him to miss out on food."

  "He left us alone to have a little chat," Clare announced.

  "But we've done the birds and the bees stuff mom," Hope said, laughing.

  "Well, that's not quite it Sweetheart, but it's close!"

  On hearing this, Hope became all ears.

  "What do you think of Tris?" Clare asked.

  "In what way?" Hope said, with a giggle.

  "It's like this, your father is thinking of asking Tris to come with us, so you'll have someone your own age as company. How does that sound to you?"

  Hope settled a little at the seriousness of the question.

  "Well, he's a nice boy mom, but I've never thought of him in any othe
r way, but now you mention it, he is rather dishy."

  Now it was Clare's turn to giggle.

  "Well, have a think about it and let us know what you'd like us to do. It would be good to have Tris along though, after all, your father is not a pilot, he doesn't even know where the start button is."

  They both laughed. "Point taken mom, I'll give it some thought."

  They heard a noise in the hallway, "It's all right, you can come in now daddy."

  Steve popped his head sheepishly around the door and saw them both grinning at him. "It went well then?" he asked timidly.

  "Yes, daddy, it went well. I'll let you know what I decide."

  "Wonderful, now what's to eat, I'm starved."

  ❧

  Hope went to visit her big sister for some advice. "He wants to take Tris along so I'll not be lonely."

  Shelley smiled at her little sister. "Look at you," she said, "you're all grown up."

  "I should think Tris would jump at the chance." Jimmy added, "Does he know yet?"

  "No, dad is waiting for my answer before he asks him."

  "So, what's it to be then?" Shelley asked, excitedly.

  "I think it's a yes," Hope said, blushing a little.

  "That's my sis," Shelley said, giving her a hug, "Tris is a great guy, I'm happy for you."

  "Me too," Jimmy said, "I'm sure you'll get on like a house on fire."

  "Well, I'd better go and tell the old folks then," Hope said, and made her exit. She made her way back towards her own house and was met by Rufus, who took a flying leap and landed in her arms licking her face. "So, you approve too do you?"

  "Yap," barked Rufus in confirmation.

  ❧

  "I'm sure she went to see Shelley Hun, maybe she went for advice, shush, she's just come in."

  "It's all right you two, I can hear you whispering."

  Hope walked into the room to see her parents behaving like naughty school children.

  "The answer is yes," was all she said, and Steve and Clare pounced on her. Together, they all danced around the room, very happy bunnies.

  "Now it's up to you daddy."