One Place, One Community
As Recon Eagle landed back on the moon it was a hive of frenetic activity. The other moon loomed large. The astral bodies were about to collide. The anti-grav towers were being tested and a glowing shield projected over Moon Base Alpha intermittently.
In Main Mission they found Paul yelling instructions to an Eagle. Sandra was doing the countdown to collision.
"Step on it Eagle 34 or we can't protect you," Paul warned. "Commander! I thought we lost Eagle 34 when we went through the vortex…but apparently it came through with us just a bit behind. It is catching up now, but it will just barely make to within coverage of the anti-grav field."
Koenig looked at the long range scan and then back again.
"Are we getting ghost echoes of the sensors? I am seeing two Eagles on the scope," John asked.
"It must be," Paul said skeptically. "But we've done diagnostics and all the sensor arrays seem fine. And all other Eagles are accounted for."
"Collision thirty seconds, Paul" cried Sandra.
Koenig looked to Kano.
"Extend the anti-grav shields out as far as you can. We have to encompass Eagle 34 at least. Tanya, see if you can get a transmission out! Tell them to hurry hurry. Every inch counts. We will try to cover them too…if we can. "
"Fifteen seconds!" Sandra counted.
"Anti-grav effect shielding extended at maximum," Kano announced. "It's just enough for 34…"
"Commander I am getting a weak signal from the other Eagle."
On the central monitor a fuzzy picture emerged of an Eagle cockpit and two yellow helmeted figures that appeared to be bearded…
"My God," John said. "That's…that's…"
"Five...four…three…two…one…collision"
The two moons touched. They merged and then they decided to separate. So they each went parallel to each other, existing at different times and different places.
One moon stayed in faithful orbital matrimony to it's reviving partner...The Earth...never to leave her again.
The other moon continued on its destiny...no matter where that lay...
Sturdy ol' Helena recovered quickly. Eventually Regina began to come up too.
In morning Helena quickly resumed her chores. Regina sluggishly donned her black robe, covered her head with the hood, and shuffled out to pick wild sunflowers. She placed the tribute on Alan's epitaph stone, said a prayer, and went back to help Sandra Tanya David and Paul in the fields.
Helena came out to relieve Tanya reminding her to take a lighter load now that she was with child. The doctor also ran her hand over Regina's brow and mentioned that she ought to take a break too.
"No…it's okay," said Regina only still in mild delirium. "I thought Alan was here. But it wasn't was him, was it? I was so ill…"
"Another Alan and another John were here, Regina," Helena confessed point blank. "I wish you had been awake to see them. It was wonderful."
Helena hugged her softly. It surprised everyone who were not used to seeing her so emotive.
"Really?" Regina said a little brightly "At least you got to see John. You got to say goodbye, huh? Did you tell him?"
"Yes, Regina. Yes."
Sandra and Tanya looked on and marveled that the two were finding strength. The two wives appreciated how fortunate they currently were. They offered to stay out while the other two recovered. But, Helena and Regina needed to be with their friends…so they all worked out in the fields until the end of the day.
As the sun got low the men came in from the fields as the women were already finishing an early supper preparations. The next day was going to be their Sabbath or day of rest. They cleaned up and ate.
As was their tradition they gathered in a semi transparent geodesic hut with a hole in the roof as the sun set. A small fire was built. Paul picked up his guitar and began to play a tune. He was more relaxed …as if a burden had been lifted from him. As he picked up the tempo of his beat his two sons watched him play. When Tanya returned, Kano approached her and gave her an elaborate bow.
"May I have the honor of this dance, Mrs. Kano?" he asked politely.
Tanya, garbed delicately in a pale orange saffron robe that would eventually be her maternity wear, curtsied graciously and smiled up at him. She extended one hand so that David could take it.
"Yes please, Mr. Kano."
Sandra and Regina had emerged. Sandra took her place by Paul's side. Regina knelt by the fire transfixed by the flames. Helena came and soon joined Regina. Kano spun Tanya about in-between holding her in his arms as they twirled to Paul's melody. It was by the second song that Victor pulled himself away from preening his hybrid sapling plants and joined them.
It was midway though a second tune that Regina cocked her head to the side. She clutched at her chest, but then she swept down the hood of her black robe. She looked up and around.
She stood up and wandered around almost dazedly.
"Careful of the fire," Helena warned.
But Regina kept turning and twisting, looking around until she bumped into the dancing pair of David and Tanya.
"What's the matter, huh?" Tanya smiled…her face a little blushed. "Did you want to cut in?"
But Regina grasped strongly onto the shoulders of the dancing spouses.
"Do you hear that?" she asked as if picking up some undetectable transmission.
Kano motioned to Paul with an up and down motion of his arm to bring the guitar sound down. Paul cocked an ear.
"I… no. It's just the wind blowing up the valley…coming off the ocean surf as usual. Right, Regina?"
She wasn't so convinced. There was the sound of the normal prevailing wind. But underneath that was an old familiar sound.
"I hear..." she began. "I hear an Eagle coming…"
She looked up at the roof.
"It's hovering overhead."
Everybody stopped. They tumbled outside.
Sure enough the sound that was being masked by the sea-ward winds was the engine roar of an Eagle coming down from the skies. It was partially visible through the ragged trees that made a line through their farmland. They all ran to meet it.
As they emerged on the other side of the tree line the great white Eagle was bathed in the light of the setting sun…which gave a brilliant orange glow to all of its surfaces.
"Oh my!" Regina started running toward it. Helena ran after her. It was approaching the old landing pad. Flecks of silver shown through where the white paint had chipped off or where scavenged parts from other disassembled Eagles had been welded on. It was an old battered Eagle.
Regina and Helena squatted down and held each other from tumbling away as the graceful bird settled down in a terrible blast of heat, air and thruster exhaust. Though they did not want to take their eyes off of it, they were forced to look away at touchdown as a final blast of the retros forced a plume of dirt and dust up and all around the old spacecraft. As its engines shut down they were the first to run up to the side door, but when it opened they both stumbled back…
A helmeted figure came down the ramp…and then another.
With practiced efficiency the first astronaut unscrewed his fasteners and removed his helmet. From beneath came the bearded saturnine face of John Koenig.
"John!" Helena stood up amazed.
"John Koenig!" Victor exclaimed. "You're back!"
"Yeah…" John said casually. "Sorry we're a bit late, but we got caught up in that maelstrom. It kicked us back a little."
"Just...a little?" Victor looked thoughtful for second. "Well...then you must have been caught in some time dilation..."
"John!" Helena sobbed. She fell into his arms.
"Really? What time is it? Are we late?"
The figure behind Koenig removed his helmet with a huff. Astronaut Alan Carter stood there.
Regina Carter ran full force into him and wouldn't let him go.
"Will someone tell me what's going on here?" he asked. He embraced his sweet wife tenderly. "Hi honey. I'm home."
John turned Helena's face to his and kissed her. He could see she had been though some troubles.
"I think we've been gone longer than we thought," John said back to Alan.
"John Koenig," said Professor Bergman. "You've been gone more than one and a half years."
"No way..." John balked. He looked down at Helena who was running rivulets of tears down her face. "It can't have been even a full day for us to come in and out of the vortex. Are you seriously telling me a year and a half has gone by...for you all?"
"547.5 days to be exact…" was all Helena could blurt out.
Over with the other couple only one phrase was being repeated. Regina Carter kissed her husband over and over and over again all while saying:
"I knew you didn't die. I knew you didn't die. I knew you didn't die. I knew you didn't die."
They walked back on the narrow path to their settlement through their fields. Little John, Sandra and Paul's oldest son, led first…then trod Alan carrying Regina in his arms the whole way. Victor, on his shoulder carried Paul and Sandra's youngest child, Anton. Next was the reunited John with reunited Helena glued to his arm. Paula and Sandra followed holding hands. And last was the couple of David, with Tanya tucked protectively in his arms.
They were, once again…one moon, one community… one time, one place…where they should be. All together again and whole.