“Did you ever read the comic ‘the Phantom’ when you were a kid?”

John looked at Alan quizzically.  Tomorrow was a big day and he was trying to clear off his desk because he knew he would have plenty to do before the wedding tomorrow afternoon.  Then the next day he and Helena were taking off.  Alan had shown up in his office a few minutes ago, opened a bottle of water and settled into a chair across the desk as if he had nothing better to do.  John considered giving him a list.

“Not that I can recall.  Do you have some kind of point to make?” John asked with impatience.  He looked at the various reports sitting on his desk.  

“Yeah.  I’ve solved that little problem of yours about where to take Helena for your honeymoon.”

“And this involves an old comic book character?”

“In a way.  The Phantom wasn’t a superhero or anything.  He was a regular guy who had devoted his life to fighting piracy in Africa.  He had a reputation for being a living ghost, but in reality he was one in a long line of fathers and sons who had been taking up the Phantom’s mask when their predecessor died.”

“And how does this have anything to do with us?”

“Well, there had been a “Ghost Who Walks” since the sixteen hundreds, and obviously, they had all married and had kids.  They also had a secret island with a golden sand beach that was set aside as a retreat, a honeymoon spot, with a little cabin.”

“And?”

“And, I remembered that and thought it would be a good idea to have a special remote place where someone, like a honeymooning couple, could get away.”

“There aren’t any beaches around here,” John said with a grin.

“No, but I did find a place about fifteen miles south of here, not too far from where we found the girls.  There’s a waterfall, and a clear pool, and a rolling meadow with a great view of the river.”

“Sounds great, but I don’t think Helena is in the mood to do any camping.”

“I didn’t think so either.  That’s why I sent a team down there today with a couple of those geodesic domes we had to use as emergency shelters on Alpha.”

John smiled, remembering the domes.  “One of the worst ideas I’d ever heard of.  Emergency shelters to put on the surface of the moon in case something ever happened to Alpha.  Almost no shielding from radiation.  If there had been an emergency and they were needed during the lunar day, solar radiation would have killed anyone who survived long enough to assemble one and use it.”

“That may be, but they’ll come in handy here.  I’m having two of them assembled a discreet distance apart on either side of that stream.  They’ll work perfectly.  The spot is far enough away to feel remote, but close enough for anyone to be able to make their way back here on their own if necessary.  Besides, you seem to have started a trend.  I’ve heard of at least another half dozen couples who are planning to get married the afternoon before their next day off.  So the honeymoon cabins will be busy.”

John grinned at his friend.  “Well, I’m looking forward to it.   Good job, Alan.”

Alan nodded and grinned.  “And speaking of jobs, I think I’ve found the answer to more permanent living quarters.”

“Not that cavern?”

“No, no.  It’s obviously not stable enough.  These cliffs are honeycombed with layer upon layer of caverns.  Those bigger rooms have too many possibilities for faults that might give way.”

“So I noticed.”  John sighed.  “I wish there were some way we could build out here on the surface.”

Alan shrugged.  “That’s not particularly efficient.  We don’t really have the building materials here for one thing.  No nearby forests.  We chose this place because it would be easily farmed.  Bricks and concrete are too labor intensive and the stone here is mostly limerock, not hard enough to build with.  And again, that would take lots of time.  The caverns offer immediate shelter.  We just have to be a bit choosier.  Do you have the time to take a walk?”

“If you think it’s important.”

“I do.  I want to show you what I’ve found.”

Alan ushered John out of his office and they walked briskly into the caverns.  Some paths were already well used with plenty of scuff marks from moon buggies and foot traffic.  The walls were painted with several color-coded lines to aid navigation inside this warren.  Alan turned off the main path, slipping under a cord that had been tied across the tunnel to keep people on the right path.  He walked a few paces into the tunnel and picked up a pair of hand torches and hard hats with their own lamps from a small cabinet left there for that purpose.  He handed one to John, who gave him a quizzical look.

“It’s just a precaution.  More to give us extra light than anything.  This area of the caverns is very stable.  I’ve already had Pat and Dave checking.”  He led the way, which quickly turned and wound upwards. 

“We’re going up?”

“Almost as high as the caves go.  Pat suggested we go up to find more stability, and also smaller caverns.  Up here we’ve got plenty of different smaller chambers that could be individual housing units.  They’ll be fairly easy to plumb and light, and most of them are close enough to the surface or the Cliffside that we can easily ventilate, and even have some recessed windows or skylights.”

They hit a spot where they were climbing steeply.  Alan continued.  “This section will have to be widened and the incline gentled.  We’ve identified thirty different chambers here that have between two thousand and five thousand square feet.  That could be living quarters for thirty different families.”

“Five thousand square feet?  Our quarters on Alpha were barely four hundred square feet.”

“Yeah.  We’d have plenty of room.  And Pat thinks there are probably two or three other areas like this one as well.  That should pretty well take care of everyone and get them out of the makeshift dorms we have now.”

“How long will it take?”  John asked.

Alan shrugged.  “Quite some time.  To get everyone out of the dorms, and temporary sleeping areas, like the one you and Helena have, it’ll be nearly a year at the earliest.  But we could have these thirty units livable in about three months or so.  Not finished off, but there would be plumbing, light and ventilation.”

John had noticed the marks on the wall as they made their way uphill.  There were also numbers painted as various tunnels branched off.  He guessed that these were the chambers that Alan had been referring to.  He kept expecting Alan to show him one of these numbered chambers, but Alan continued to climb purposefully. 

“Are we headed somewhere in particular?”  John asked, remembering the paperwork back on his desk.

“Yeah.  I’ve already picked out two that I’ve tentatively penciled in for you and Helena and me and Sahn.  Since the girls are friends, I thought they’d like being neighbors.”  Alan glanced back at John.

John had to smile.  Helena would like to have her friends close by, and so would he.  But he wasn’t sure he should be taking first choice in housing.

“As you can see, they’re not the most convenient quarters, nor are they the biggest.” Alan seemed to be following John’s train of thought.

They made another turn and Alan pointed out numbers 27 and 28.  “That’s the one I had in mind for me and Sandra,” he said, indicating the left-hand branch.  “And this one would be ‘Chez Koenig.”  He waved grandly and John stepped into a smaller tunnel that still had ceilings more than ten feet high.

There was another bend, then another.  Alan was behind him, giving a running commentary.  “It would be easy enough to place a door here, and perhaps even another door, giving you a coat closet here.”

Then John stepped into the room itself.  There was a series of columns to his right which served as a natural room divider.  To his left the floor rose and curved around to another smaller section of the room.  As he turned his light up there he could see a stone drapery, created over millions of years of slow drips.  Alan moved past him and up around into the smaller chamber.  The light from his lamp shone through the translucent rock curtain, highlighting different colors.  With Alan’s lights shining in different spots John could see the walls around him sparkled with small crystals.

“This one is just a little over three thousand square feet of useable space,” Alan explained.  “I figured this could easily be made into a bedroom with just a few partitions.  That area over there could also be bedrooms, for your kids.”  He pointed back down the ramp he had just walked up.  “And over here, a bathroom.  It actually backs up against my cavern and the same piping could easily be used for both bathrooms.”  He came back down the ramp.  “And look over here.”

John followed him across the cavern.  The floor was smooth in most places.  There was another alcove over here that couldn’t be seen from the main entrance. 

“See that crack?”  Alan pointed out what looked like a fault line from floor to ceiling.

“Yeah.”

“It goes all the way to the Cliffside.  This area could be cut away, the floor reinforced and a picture window put in.  That would provide light, and ventilation.  It would be deep, nearly ten feet, but we could even make it big enough to be a small balcony on the cliff.”

A balcony on the cliff.  The words triggered John’s imagination.  He could almost see the view.  He turned and he could see not just a rock cavern, but a potential home: his and Helena’s.  For a moment he had a brief flash of vision:  a round hearth in the main room providing extra warmth; mats of some kind of woven grass on the floor.  There were Alphan wall panels between the columns, and a door.  A kitchen counter was against the far wall, with sink and stove and one of the tiny refrigerators from Alpha.  He could even seen children sprawled in front of the hearth and Helena sitting at some kind of loom, watching them as she worked.  And up above them, in the loft area, his desk and chair, a study for him where he could watch over the household.  This other alcove was their bedroom, with the same woven mats on the floor and warm soft furs piled on the bed, and beyond, on the balcony, a stark winter sun set, providing a yellowed homey light.

To have such a place, would be a miracle. 

“I like it Alan.  You can do it?”

“We can do it.  We can have you settled in by winter.”

“We don’t know exactly when the winters start around here.”

“Not for a while yet though, John.”  Alan clapped him on the back.  “It’s spring, my friend, can’t you feel it in the air?”

John laughed.  “I guess I can, at that.”  He nodded, liking what he was seeing, and liking what his imagination was conjuring up even more.  “Do it.  Get started as soon as possible.”

Alan nodded.  It was the signal he’d been waiting for.  “Will do,” he said with a smile.  But I’m taking off the day after tomorrow for my own honeymoon.  We’ll have the cabin just across the river from you.”

John nodded and said his goodbyes.  He followed the marked trail down to the main tunnel with no problem.  Just as he removed the hard hat, placing it back on the table, he saw Helena approaching.  He bent to move under the tape blocking the entrance.

“Well, hello there,” she greeted him with a smile.  Now that they were here on the planet, settling in, and putting down roots, it seemed that everyone was smiling more.  “Have you taken up spelunking in your spare time?”

“What spare time would that be?” John asked, putting his arm around her waist and heading up the passage toward the surface.

Helena laughed. 

“Alan took me up that passage to show me some areas that would work well for family housing.”

“Like, our family?”  Helena asked, cutting her eyes at him.

“Exactly like our family,” he answered, kissing her temple.  “Speaking of which, how’s your arm feeling?”

Helena’s arm was in a cast from elbow to wrist.  She also had a bandage on the same arm from the removal of her birth control implant.  “The broken part feels fine now that the swelling is down and it’s immobilized.  And the other spot is healing nicely.”

“Glad to hear it.”

They walked out of the cave’s main entrance and back to his office.  They had yet to enter the former Eagle passenger module when Shermeen Williams joined them.  Her jumpsuit was covered with mud.  She wore a wide brimmed cloth hat and held a specimen bag in her hand.  “Commander, I’ve got something to show you!”  Her voice held a jubilant air.

John used his commlock to open the door and waved both women into the interior.

“We were scouting down along the riverbank, looking for specimens that might be of use to us.  And we found this!”

Shermeen reached into the mylar bag and pulled out several seed pods.  She handed one to Helena and another to John.  John turned his over in his hand.  It was green, and the size of a large walnut.  He was wondering if it was something to be eaten when Shermeen removed another pod from the bag.  This one was already opened and Helena looked at it with interest.  The interior of the pod was filled with a white fibrous substance

“It has properties similar to cotton,” Shermeen said.

Helena smiled, and pulled the fiber from the pod.  There were seeds mixed into the fiber, and Helena was pulling the seeds away from the fiber, twisting the fiber at the same time.”

“That sounds great Shermeen, but we’ll now need someone who has some idea of how to spin,” John said with a smile. 

Helena looked up and her eyes met his.  “I know how to spin,” she said quietly with a smile.  “And we’re certainly going to need the material, for diapers and baby clothes, as well as to replace our own clothes.”

Shermeen looked at her with delight.  “We should get a team out to pick as many of these as possible.  Perhaps you can teach some of us how to spin?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“Shermeen,” John said.  “Gather up some volunteers and pick as much of this as you can.”

Shermeen nodded.  “We’ll also want to save as many of the seeds as possible.”

“We’ll have to cobble together a gin to remove the seeds and find a way to wash and card the fiber,” Helena said thoughtfully.  “A simple spindle can be used to spin the yarn.”

“Sounds like you’re our expert,” John said.  “Helena, I know you have plenty of other things to occupy your time, but can I delegate this to you and Shermeen?”

Helena nodded.  “Shermeen, I won’t have the time to help pick, but I’ll consult with technical for the items we’ll need while you collect these pods.”

“Leave enough so the area can regrow again next year naturally,” John advised.

“We will, Commander,” the young woman promised.  “I’ll start gathering them right away.”

Shermeen gathered up her specimen bags and left the office.  John sat in one of the chairs and drew Helena into his lap.  “When did you learn how to spin?”

“When I was growing up one of my father’s distant cousins was an elderly lady with no other close kin.  She had done everything at one point or another.  She held a doctorate in mathematics.  She was a figure skater in her youth.  She wrote and published music.  She painted landscapes in oils.  We visited her once a week when I was little and in one room in her house she had this huge loom and a spinning wheel.  I was fascinated and she was thrilled to show me how they worked.  I used to love my visits with her.”

“You hardly ever talk about your childhood.”

“Neither one of us do.  Maybe here, with a home of our own to build, we’ll both feel more comfortable talking about the past.”

A home of their own.  It had a wonderful sound to it.  Helena leaned her head against John’s shoulder.

That evening they had dinner with Sandra and Alan and the women presented their fiancés with scripts for the wedding ceremony the next day.  It would be a double ceremony, with Alan and Sandra exchanging vows first, then John and Helena.  The service would take place mid afternoon and there would be a buffet for everyone afterwards.

The following day was hectic in the extreme.  It seemed that everyone needed to have a word with John before he left for his all too brief honeymoon.  There were decisions to be made that couldn’t be delayed.  There were plans that must be okayed.  Everyone working on any of the myriad of projects seemed to have questions that must be asked immediately.  He was afraid he was going to be late for his own wedding. 

Alan and Tony finally whisked him away in time to shower and change into his least threadbare uniform.  They arrived at the cliffside after the crowd had gathered, but with time to spare.  The brides had not arrived quite yet.

The view was breathtaking.  They looked out over the plains below, with the river winding into the distance.  The river widened here, fed by many tiny streams that exited from the underground caves, some becoming waterfalls down the cliff face, others underground springs that bubbled up from the floodplain.  The water was pure and fresh and tasted wonderful. 

The ceremony was brief.  It seemed so easy to speak a few words and suddenly Helena was his wife, something that should have occurred long ago, as several friends reminded him during dinner.  Helena looked beautiful, and John had to admit that he paid very little attention to the vows Alan and Sandra exchanged, or to the dinner that the cafeteria staff had taken great pains to prepare.

Bill Fraser flew the Eagle that took the two couples to their honeymoon destination.  There were two moon buggies waiting at the landing area and they carried their bags and a box of supplies to the buggies.  John and Helena took one buggy and headed toward the northern dome on a small rise.  Alan and Sandra headed toward the other dome with a wave.  By the time John and Helena reached the dwelling, the Eagle had lifted off and they were alone for their wedding night.

The morning light was barely a gray suggestion when the insistent beeping of John’s commlock woke him from a very sound sleep.  At first he felt an odd disorientation.  The Alphan bed looked incongruous in the domed room.  Helena lay curled at his side. Her bare back was turned toward him and her left arm was stretched out beside her on a pillow.  With the cast, she took up more of the bed than usual, but he didn’t mind; the terror of losing her just at the time when they could look more than one day into the future was still too fresh.  The beeping persisted, interrupting his thoughts of his new marriage and the gentle but satisfying activities of the previous night.  He looked around, not sure where he had placed the commlock in the very bare room.

He reached over the side of the bed and retrieved the commlock from the floor.  He devoutly hoped this was some silly joke of Tony’s and he would have at least one day to enjoy his honeymoon.  It surprised him to see Alan’s earnest face instead of Tony’s.

He kept his voice low, hoping not to disturb Helena.  “Alan. You are the last person I expected to be involved with some kind of chivaree.”

“No, joke, John,” Alan assured him, also keeping his voice low.

“What’s wrong?”

“Go look out your window.”

“What?”

“Do it!”  The urgency in Alan’s tone belied the low volume he was maintaining.  John noticed that Alan was also looking over and past the commlock pickup.

John slipped from bed and crossed the room to the one triangular panel that was clear.  A translucent vinyl covering was snapped over it to provide privacy.  The window faced up the stream and toward the second honeymoon dome.  Helena stirred and sat up, sensing his movement from her side.  She shot him a questioning look and picked up her robe from beside the bed.

Outside, a low mist filled in the low spots in the meadow, leaving only the tallest grasses visible.  The mist parted just at the pond and darker shades of the water could be seen.  The other dome could also be made out just to the other side of the pond.  No lights were visible in the dome, but the material of the dome itself was a shiny reflective white that picked up the little light there was and reflected it back. 

Standing by the edge of the pond was a shape.  In the quickening light it appeared to be a large dark animal leaning over to drink at the pond.  Details were scarce at this distance and level of light.  Helena caught her breath and touched John’s arm softly.  The animal lifted its head and turned, looking in the direction of the other dome.  The silhouette of the graceful creature indicated six long graceful legs, a long sinuous neck, and a single horn in its forehead.  It looked, for all the world like a mythical unicorn. 

There was movement by the other dome.  The animal held still as the door opened further and Sandra stepped out.

“Alan, what is she doing?”  John asked softly.

“She wants a better look at it.  And she’s going to try to get a picture.”

“The risk is too great!  We don’t know anything about it!”  Helena breathed.

“Alan, get her back inside.”

Sandra moved slowly and the animal made no attempt to move.  It stood still, watching. 

John and Helena could barely breathe.  Sandra continued her slow approach.  Alan stood in the doorway, poised to pull her to safety if needed, but allowing her to attempt to go near the animal.  Sandra held a commlock in her left hand, low and against her side.  Her other hand was stretched out toward the animal.

Slowly, slowly, she took one step after another.  The animal continued to hold perfectly still.  She reached out her hand.  The animal moved its head, every bit as slowly as she was moving.  For a moment, its horn touched her fingertip.  Time seemed to stand still.  Then the animal tossed its head, towering nearly a meter above Sandra, then it moved upstream, past her, past the dome, and vanished into the mist.

The sun chose that moment to burst above the horizon, an orange-red ball to the east.  The morning was clear and the mist would break apart quickly, reducing to ordinary this almost mystical scenery.

“Helena, I thought you said there were no large animals here,” Alan said, voice shaky.

“All our scans…” Helena trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“This just shows how little we know about this planet,” John said.  “It will undoubtedly hold many surprises for us yet.”

Ellen Lindow

November 2001