Part Eight

The next couple of years passed by peacefully for the young family. The final eighteen months of Jeff's training for the moon landing was to take place at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral and so they were making the final preparations for the move from Texas to Florida. As soon as they mentioned the fact to their friends and family, the reaction was always the same:

"Ooh! I'll have to come and stay with you sometime!"

"Maybe you should start a hotel business instead of an engineering one," Lucy said to Jeff, after they had yet another friend say how nice it was that they were moving to Florida.

"No thanks," Jeff replied. "But the house sure looks big enough." As well as transferring location, Jeff was also moving to the World Space Agency, which was a coalition of the world's different space programmes. The WSA would take charge of the final stages of the moon landings. As a gesture of generosity to the astronauts and their families, the agency had found new homes for those that would have to relocate. The house given to Jeff and Lucy had seemed huge to them when they had first gone to look at it.

"But there's only the three of us!" Lucy had exclaimed. "Do they think we've got five kids or something?"

"It's because we're used to an apartment," Jeff said. "At least Scott's got somewhere to play outside now."

"True," Lucy said. Scott was now a boisterous two year old, who was into everything. Ever since he had learned to walk, he was off exploring things, and occasionally caused his parents to panic when he slipped from their watchful gaze and disappeared, only to be found a few minutes later happily playing in a puddle or trying to climb something. He was a gorgeous looking toddler, with a mop of loose dark curls and brilliant blue eyes. Old ladies adored him, and Lucy became used to standing patiently in the supermarket whilst they cooed over her son. He was fast learning how to talk, too. And fast growing out of his clothes; he seemed to be all legs which made Lucy suspect that he was going to be tall.

She laughed as she watched Scott playfully grab hold of Jeff's lower leg, the boy seeming to find it the funniest thing in the world as his father gamely dragged him along the floor. But, it was getting late, so Lucy moved to unwrap her son from her husband.

"Sorry to break things up boys, but it's time for Scotty to go to bed," she said, managing to lift Scott up.

"No mommy!" he yelled, changing from smiles to the threat of a tantrum in an instant. Lucy braced herself. They had found that the term "terrible twos" was very much a reality for them. Scott was an angel when he was good, but when he wasn't, all hell seemed to break loose.

"He's exactly like Jeff was at that age," Josie had commented, completely unfazed by her grandson's screaming fit during their last visit to the farm in Kansas. Jeff had blushed scarlet and mumbled something about not remembering ever being that bad as a child. On this present occasion, Jeff decided to spare his wife and took Scott from her.

"I'll put him to bed," he said, and disappeared with the protesting toddler. Lucy proceeded to tidy up Scott's toys and other clutter from the day. The job done, she sank down onto the sofa and curled up, finally able to take a moment to relax. Jeff emerged from Scott's room.

"He didn't sound too bad," Lucy said.

"No, he wasn't. Went to sleep almost straight away," Jeff replied, coming over. He squeezed her hand as he passed. "I'll get that bottle of wine out."

"Good idea," Lucy replied. Today was actually their third wedding anniversary, but they had been so busy recently with one thing or another, that they had forgotten to arrange anything for themselves. Jeff came and sat beside Lucy, and poured a glass each for both of them. Lucy smiled lovingly at Jeff.

"To us," she said, raising her glass.

"To us," Jeff replied. They clinked the glasses together, and each took a sip.

"Three years," Lucy said. "It's gone by so fast."

"We'll do something really special next year," Jeff promised. Lucy drank some more wine.

"Maybe we could get your parents to look after Scott and we could go away somewhere," she suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we could finally get around to visiting some of the places on our wish list."

"It's something to consider." They enjoyed a companionable silence for a short while.

"I know I'm going to be really busy in the next year, with all the training and starting up the business if the agency agrees to it, but I promise not to forget about you and Scott," said Jeff, putting an arm around Lucy.

"I'm not going to let you forget me," Lucy answered, sticking out her tongue at him. Jeff returned the gesture.

"Looking forward to your last week in your job?" he asked.

"No," she replied, looking sad. "I wish I didn't have to leave them." Lucy was having to say goodbye to the small news channel she had been working for since she came to live in America. She'd had to turn down a promotion because of the move to Florida, but Joel had written such a glowing reference for her that she had got an equivalent job over there. She was looking forward to the new challenge, but she seriously doubted that she could love her new job as much as her current one. She had made so many friends whilst living in Houston, and now she had to start all over again.

"I bet they wish that you didn't have to leave," Jeff said. "Some of them, anyway." Lucy gave him a look. She knew exactly who he was referring to. Jeff had never completely got rid of the chip he had on his shoulder over her friendship with Tom, although he held in any jealous outbursts nowadays. Jeff decided that it was best to change the subject.

"Bet you're looking forward to being close to all the beaches," he said. Lucy smiled.

"Of course I am," she said. "You?"

"Oh, definitely," Jeff grinned, then sighed. "Just think, this time three years ago we were on a beach."

"I haven't forgotten." She put her near-empty glass on a nearby table and stroked the side of Jeff's face before kissing him. The spark between them was still as bright as it had always been. She snuggled up to him.

"You're still huggable," she said. Jeff squeezed her.

"So are you," he replied, and filled her glass up again. She looked at him. He smiled at her.

"What? It's Sunday tomorrow. Besides, when are we going to drink the rest of it if we save it?" he said. Lucy didn't have an answer to that, so she accepted what he said with an amused shake of her head. They continued to chat away, until it was time for them to go to bed. Without warning, Jeff grabbed Lucy and put her over his shoulder. She tried to avoid laughing too much in case she woke Scott up.

"Put me down!" she said, weakly.

"I will in a second," her replied, carrying her through to their room as if she were a feather and placing her on the bed. She smiled at him as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"So when are we going to have this other baby?" he asked, casually. Lucy stared back up at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to come out with that.

"Not at the moment," she replied.

"You've been saying that for ages," Jeff said, giving her another kiss.

"It's not the right time."

"You'd have said that if I had suggested it when we got married, but everything's worked out with Scott," Jeff said.

"I'm about to start a new job," Lucy replied. "I don't want to go on maternity leave as soon as I've arrived there."

"Is that all that matters to you?" Jeff asked.

"Of course not," Lucy replied, looking into his eyes. "You know it's not." She paused, then reached up to run a hand through his hair.

"Let's get ourselves sorted out in Florida first, then we'll see," she said. Jeff gazed back at her, seeming to accept what she had said. His expression turned mischievous.

"We can still get some practice in, right?"


The ringing of the phone took Lucy by surprise. She looked at Scott, who was playing with a toy plane.

"Who's calling at this time of the morning?" she said to him, thinking out loud. Scott looked questioningly back at her, before turning back to his game. Lucy got off the floor and went to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Good morning. Am I talking to Mrs Lucille Tracy?"

"Yes," Lucy replied, puzzled as to what this was about. The man on the other end of the phone didn't sound like a salesman.

"Mrs Tracy, my name is Bob McCoy. I work for the World Space Agency and I have some news for you regarding your husband Jeff," he said.

"Why, what's happened? Has he had an accident?" Lucy asked, feeling her stomach churn. Jeff was away at the moment, on an intensive training course.

"Sort of. As you know, Jeff is being trained in the use of equipment for the moon landing. As part of all the astronaut's training, we must test their survival skills in case of the worst-case scenario. For this, we have purposely created situations where all the astronauts have been stranded in areas that will test them," Bob said.

"You mean you've created an 'accident' where they've had to bail out?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. In Jeff's case, we've had him crash land on an island in the Pacific Ocean," Bob replied, unperturbed. Lucy felt less calm.

"You could have killed him!" she exclaimed.

"I assure you that every precaution was taken to ensure that he would survive the initial stage of this operation," Bob told her.

"What happens now?" Lucy asked.

"Well, the plan is to leave the astronauts for about ten weeks, then pick them up and return them to Cape Canaveral for debriefing," he said.

"Ten weeks?" Lucy said, her heart jumping. Her hand went instinctively to her abdomen.

"That's right, ma'am. We will be monitoring all the astronauts and if they are in trouble, we will get them out before the ten weeks are up."

"Jeff would never have agreed to this," Lucy said, angrily.

"Possibly not, which is why this operation has been kept secret from all the astronauts and their families until now," Bob told her.

"But I'm expecting a baby!" Lucy said, feeling bewildered.

"I understand your feelings on that, ma'am, but please try to realise that this forms an important part of the astronaut's preparations. Everything is being done to ensure that they will return home safe and well when their time is up."

"I want to speak to the person in charge," Lucy said.

"I am the person in charge," Bob replied. Lucy could tell from the tone of his voice that she wasn't going to be able to argue with him.

"We will let you know on his welfare, and when he will be returning," Bob told her.

"Thank you," Lucy said.

"One more thing, Mrs Tracy. I understand that you are a journalist?"

"I am, yes."

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from making public the details of this exercise. We need to keep things secure."

"Fine, I will do," Lucy said, knowing from Jeff how much security mattered on these sorts of things.

"Well, that's all for now, ma'am," Bob said. "Unless you have any more questions?"

"No," Lucy replied.

"Goodbye then," Bob said.

"Bye," Lucy said, and put down the phone. She stood there for a few minutes, not really knowing how to get her head around the fact that Jeff wasn't going to be coming home for ten weeks. It was made worse in that their second child was due in ten weeks. It was going to be touch and go as to whether Jeff was going to be back in time for the birth. She thought of her husband and hoped that he was indeed okay, as Bob McCoy had promised he was. She tried to reassure herself. If the WSA had planned this, then they must have selected the island as a suitable place, which meant that there was some sort of food and fresh water available and materials to build a shelter with. Jeff was far from stupid, and he was extremely fit due to being in the air force then NASA and latterly the WSA. She looked over to where Scott was, and her heart sank again. How was she going to explain Jeff's absence to him?


Thousands of miles away in the south Pacific, Jeff was exploring the island that he found himself stranded on. He'd seen and done a few frightening things in his life, but when the fault developed on the plane he was testing and all he could see was miles of ocean, his life had flashed before his eyes. Fortunately, he'd found this little island and had managed to land the plane, although not without damaging it. There was no real flat surface on the island. From looking at the rocks, it looked as if the island was once a volcano. He wasn't hurt himself, save for being a little shaken and bruised. He'd tried radioing for help, but there was no response. So he had decided he should take a look around and see what sort of resources there were. It could very well be a day or two, or maybe even longer before help arrived. A search of the immediate area revealed a couple of small caves and a spring. At least he had fresh water. He looked at the palm trees and saw that there were coconuts on them. He wrinkled his nose. He wasn't a big fan of coconuts, but if that was all there was to eat, then fine. Hopefully the sea was rich in fish. He made his way down to one of the many beaches that the island seemed to have, and discovered rock pools with a diversity of creatures in. He looked out across the sea, trying to see if there were any planes or ships nearby. Nothing. He sighed, and then realised how alone he was. There probably wasn't another person for hundreds of miles. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky, so he made his way back to the remains of his plane. He needed to make a fire and a shelter before it got dark.

A month or so passed. Jeff would have completely lost track of time if he hadn't marked each day on a rock, akin to a prisoner marking time in a cell. He was sat on a rocky outcrop, looking over the sea. This was ridiculous. Surely they must have pinpointed where he had crash-landed by now. The alternative scenario, that the authorities presumed him to be dead, didn't bear thinking about. The island was a little paradise, unspoilt by people, but right now Jeff was finding it hell. His initial optimism had begun to wane recently. He couldn't seem to get the radio working, and he was getting tired of eating fish and whatever else he could forage. He fidgeted with his wedding ring. Today was his and Lucy's anniversary. Last year he had promised that they'd do something special together to make up for not celebrating properly. This year he wasn't even with her. He thought back to the early days of their relationship when they went months without seeing each other. He couldn't bear the thought of going through that again. He wondered how she was coping by herself, juggling work and looking after Scott. The new baby would be due soon. Scott had been really excited about the prospect of a little brother to play with. Jeff missed his little boy deeply. He was so used to having Scott follow him around at home that even here, in the middle of nowhere, he kept half-expecting to see him appear. Jeff looked to the horizon and strengthened his resolve. He would see his family again. He was twenty-nine years old and far too young to die on a little atoll in the middle of nowhere. He had the moon to go to. He would go home.


Lucy paced up and down the room, impatient. This was taking far too long.

"Why don't you sit down?" Josie was sure Lucy was going to wear the floor out.

"No, I'm alright," Lucy replied. They were waiting to be reunited with Jeff. Josie had come over to stay with Lucy in case Jeff wasn't back in time for the birth of the baby. Things were being a little too finely cut for Lucy's liking, and she was fervently praying that the baby would stay put for a little while longer. At long last, the door opened, and in walked Jeff.

"Here's Robinson Crusoe," he grinned at them, opening up his arms for Lucy. They held each other tightly for ages before letting go. Jeff surveyed Lucy.

"Haven't you grown?" he said to her, touching the bulge that was her tummy.

"I've been having to cross my legs," she told him, lightly. Jeff laughed, and went to kiss her, but she backed away.

"There's no way I'm kissing you with that beard."

"Charming," Jeff replied. He turned to his mother, who was waiting patiently and gave her a hug.

"Hello Mother."

"Look at you," she said. "I'll have to cook you a proper meal when we get home."

"Yes please," Jeff replied. "Just so long as it isn't fish or coconuts." His mother patted him on the arm.

"You can tell us all about it when we get home," she said.

"Where's Scott?" Jeff asked.

"He's with Cookie," said Lucy. Cookie was their next-door neighbour. Scott often played with her children.

"How's he been?"

"Okay. He's kept asking where you are, but he's coped with things quite well, I think," Lucy said. "Come on, let's go home." Jeff put his arm around her shoulders.

"That's music to my ears."


"You can't call a baby Virgil!"

"Given some of the names out there, I can call my baby whatever I like."

"Yes darling, but Virgil?"

"I think it's cute. So does Jeff." Lucy was on a call to her mother, talking about the new arrival. He was born two days after Jeff came home, and was an adorable little chunk, who looked quite a bit like his mother, having inherited her hazel-brown eyes and a sprinkling of russet hair. The day-old baby was sleeping peacefully in his basket whilst his mother and grandmother discussed his name.

"Well, it is up to you," Caroline said, doubtfully. "But… Well, you do realise what will happen when he's older?"

"No?"

"Other children, Lucy. They can be unkind. I'm just saying."

"I don't know what you're trying to say." Lucy did have an inkling of what her mother was getting at, but her patience was currently rather thin, and she didn't attempt to hide her exasperation. She used the silence to take a breath before continuing.

"It suits him, Mum. I couldn't see him being called anything else. You'll see when we send through some photographs."

"How's Scott taken to him?" Caroline asked, wisely moving on.

"He loves him to bits," Lucy said. "Here, I'll let him tell you." She looked up and beckoned to Scott.

"Scotty! Come and tell your gran about your brother," she called. Scott rushed over and grabbed the phone from his mother.

"Hello Gran!" Lucy watched as he talked to her mother about his little brother. It had become his favourite subject overnight, and he was happy to tell anyone all about "Virgie". He hadn't quite got the hang of "Virgil" yet. Jeff came into the room. He was already looking better after his ordeal; just having a shave and a haircut was a vast improvement. He had been furious with the officials at the WSA when he first discovered that the whole thing had been planned from the start, and almost felt like walking out on the whole mission on the spot. He calmed down enough to see their reasons, though he still resented that his family had been put under what he considered to be unnecessary stress. The silver lining was that he hadn't missed the birth of his second child, although having been away for ten weeks, he almost felt as if he'd been teleported straight to August. And that meant there was now less than six months to go before he would be undertaking a very different sort of mission.

Those remaining months proved to be intensive for reasons other than final preparations. The PR machine ramped up and Jeff and the other four astronauts seemed to be endlessly giving interviews, being photographed and other activity that Jeff found annoying and distracting. Because of Lucy's experience as a journalist, she was able to help Jeff deal with a lot of the media attention, patiently explaining to him why people would ask questions Jeff deemed to be irrelevant, helping him frame responses to things that he didn't really want to answer and trying to get him to understand the concept and mass appeal of the "human interest" story.

"Think of all this as a type of investment," she had suggested, after listening to his latest bout of griping. "You want to make a go of running your own business one day. It'll not just be about product or services, no matter how good they might be, you'll need people to buy you. That's going to be much easier if they see Jeff Tracy as a cool guy rather than get the feeling he doesn't want to be there."

"I didn't become an astronaut because I wanted to be thought of as 'cool'."

"I'm not saying you need to come across as some crazy extrovert, but I do know you can turn on the charm. So, grit your teeth, smile, shake the hands, work the events, pose for the photographs, sign the autographs, and get in on the jokes." He tried to take her advice, although he found difficulty with the notion that he and one of his fellow astronauts, an Australian called Kurt Fitzgerald, seemed to be a particular draw for women of all ages. Jeff claimed to be embarrassed by the attention, whilst Lucy found it hilarious.

"When you're half asleep, drooling onto the pillow and scratching your backside, I'll try to remember I'm married to a sex symbol," she had teased him, after reading aloud one of the fluffier articles about the astronauts and their upcoming adventure.


Once again Jeff was saying goodbye to his family in person before he and his crewmates undertook the standard pre-mission quarantine period. It would mean missing Christmas with his family, but that had to be the price paid. He held a slightly grizzly four-month-old Virgil in his arms, making soothing noises.

"Hey, hey. Why the mood?" Jeff peered at his second son and tried to coax a smile out of him, but the baby was having none of it. Ruefully, Jeff gave up and helped his wife pop Virgil back into the carrier she was wearing. Thankfully, the little one settled against his mother, though his expression remained somewhat doleful. Scott on the other hand, understanding what was happening, was excited.

"Daddy's going to the moon!" He was scooped up by his father.

"And how am I getting there?"

"In a rocket!"

"And what do rockets do?"

"Whoosh!" At the same time as Scott said the word, Jeff hoisted him into the air. It was a well-rehearsed little game that Scott hadn't tired of. He was still laughing as Jeff hugged him close. Grant put a hand on Jeff's shoulder.

"Well, I guess this is it, my boy."

"I guess so." Jeff looked at his father. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"To you and Ma, letting me do what I needed to so I could be here. I know it might have been easier if I'd gotten the farming bug rather than the astronaut bug." Josie made a slight noise of emotion whilst Grant remained stoic.

"Perhaps. But we live in changing times. It's an era of new frontiers and new pioneers. I'm just proud to see your hard work pay off."

"Dad." A nod of acknowledgement was all Jeff managed, wanting to keep his emotions under control. His father only reserved praise for when he truly felt it was earned. Jeff hoped that all the years of preparation which were about to come to fruition weren't going to be for nothing.

The day arrived and the family were waiting patiently with the relative of the other astronauts to await the launch of the huge yellow rocket that would take Jeff, Kurt and the other three astronauts to the moon. Finally, the countdown began, and the rocket took off with a huge roar. It wasn't the sort of noise that you heard, you also felt it vibrate through the ground. Lucy had put ear defenders on both the boys, but even so, Virgil stirred out of his sleep and began griping again, whilst Scott had an expression on his face that Lucy couldn't help but laugh at. She'd never seen his blue eyes so wide. She crouched down next to him whilst hushing his baby brother.

"Wave goodbye to Daddy," she said. Scott looked upwards towards where the rocket was fast disappearing and waved.

"Did you like that, Scotty?" Grant asked.

"Yeah!" Scott grinned. "It was really loud."

"Yes, it was," Grant smiled at him.

"I want a rocket," Scott declared. His grandfather chuckled softly.

"Of course you do." Grant ruffled his grandson's hair. "Don't let anything stop you, my boy."


The landing on the moon was supposed to coincide with when the sun rose over the international dateline, but there were a few small problems on board the capsule, which meant that it was a little late. It still made it for New Year's Day for much of the world. Lucy held her breath along with millions of people around the world as the capsule descended onto the lunar surface. This was the moment that Jeff had spent six years training for. One small mistake and it would all go to waste. Finally, the capsule touched down safely, and one by one the astronauts stepped out onto the surface.

"Which one's Daddy?" Scott asked. Lucy couldn't tell, but the commentator on the television helped her out.

"That's him," Lucy said, pointing out one of the small figures. The whole thing seemed surreal to her, and she had to keep reminding herself that she wasn't dreaming. Jeff really was on the moon and would be for another two days. He'd actually celebrate his thirtieth birthday there.

"It's some birthday present," he had said in a typically understated way, just before he had left to get ready for the launch. She watched as the astronauts talked to the WSA command and to each other, planting a special flag to commemorate the occasion. They then proceeded to explore the territory they were in, bouncing along in the bizarre way that astronauts were forced to do in the lesser gravity of the moon. Scott laughed, finding the jerky movements of his father and the others funny to watch. Lucy gave him a cuddle, wondering what it was actually like up there.

On the moon, Jeff had come to realise how silence could be deafening. If none of them made any noise, the absolute stillness of the moon seemed to block his ears. The moon seemed to be so majestic, yet so dead. Even a desert on Earth had more life in it. The five astronauts went about their initial tasks of collecting rocks and taking measurements. They were not far away from the site where Neil Armstrong had first stepped onto the moon and took a buggy to go and look – and also to live broadcast to the world, along with doing some work to ensure preservation of the area for future generations. Jeff felt awestruck, looking at the remains of the historical site, and seeing the footprints that had been left behind, pretty much undisturbed. The most amazing sight had to be seeing the Earth rising above the horizon of the lunar surface. Jeff had seen the Earth from orbit several times now, but this was different.

"It seems really vulnerable, doesn't it?" Kurt said.

"Yes, it does," Jeff replied. He held out his hand so that it was flat and raised it until it looked as if the planet was balanced on his palm. Billions of people, thousands of miles of ocean, rainforests and polar icecaps all there in his hand. The thought sent a tingle through him.

"If only everyone could step back from the world like this," he said. The others agreed, each touched by what they saw. Simply standing there and looking at Earth from 384,000 miles away had changed their perception of their planet. It changed their lives.