The Earthrise Trilogy Read Online Free Page A

remember?"  
    "Sure I do, but what's that got to do with the Moon?"  
    "Ah, that's the 64,000 dollar question, isn't it, but my guess is it's to do with either food, or air production."  
    "Of course," Steve shouted, "that's it! One of the main problems MBA has to overcome is air, it's not possible to transport enough of it from Earth, and it can only be recycled so many times. Air is the key to MBA's success, without it, MBA will fail, but is it really possible to use plants to create enough air?"  
    "Not that I know of," Clare replied, "at least, not yet, but there was one plant I discovered high up in the Andes that was very efficient at converting sunlight into oxygen. All green leaf plants do it, but B37A was almost ten times more efficient than your everyday plant. I wrote an article on it..." Her voice faded as she realised that she'd seen the very same article on Vink's computer. "That must be it," she said, "they've taken my work on hybrids and created a new strain of B37A, a strain that can make enough air to run MBA."  
    "Makes sense," Steve said, "grow enough of the stuff, and it's free air. There's one other problem though, water. There's no water on the Moon, and plants need water."  
    "Can't help you there," Clare replied, "I don't know of a plant the can turn sunlight into water."  
    "Maybe not," Steve replied, "but plants could be created that used very little of it-"  
    "They already exist," Clare interrupted, "most of Earth's deserts have some form of plant life, even if it just lies dormant until it rains."  
    By now it was really late, they had been driving around for a couple of hours and Clare was sleepy. "Let's go home," she said, "I'm all in."
    ❧
    It was on TV the following morning. Rufus was his usual self, and the kids were full of beans, but mom and dad were rather fragile. "Shush," Clare suddenly gestured, "quiet, there's something on the news." Everyone became silent, even Rufus, for a second or two. Clare went over to the TV to listen.  
    "What is it Sweetie?" Steve asked.  
    "There's been an accident in Russia," she said, "some sort of explosion at a factory."  
    "Must be bad to make the news," Steve said, "I wonder what kind of factory it was?"  
    "Don't know," Clare replied, "but it doesn't look good. There are mass evacuations taking place." Steve just caught the end of the item.  
    ' Sabotage cannot be ruled out ,' came the voice from the TV.  
    "Well, at least it's not nuclear," Chris piped up, "remember the last time?"  
    "Yes, that's good," Clare, said, "the last one caused a lot of suffering."
    Steve left for work as usual. He had no idea what would be waiting for him on his arrival, and his mind was racing with thoughts of being arrested for breaking and entering, with squad cars and blue and red lights everywhere. He needn't have bothered though, everything was just like any other day. There was no sign that anything had happened during the night.  
    'This can't be right,' Steve thought as he entered the building. 'Vink must be going out of his mind by now seeing his precious data erased.' There was nothing. All was calm.  
    "Hi Jimmy," Steve called out, on seeing him, "anything happening yet?" he asked, knowing that Jimmy would know if anyone did.  
    "Nope, not yet," Jimmy replied, "just another boring day!"  
    "It should be anything but boring," Steve said, under his breath, whilst heading for his Lab.
    It was lunchtime before Steve had a chance to quiz anyone else, but his opportunity came when he bumped into Janice in the canteen.  
    "Hi there," he greeted her, "how's uncle Vink' today?"  
    "Well, funny you should ask Steve, but he's not here. I haven't seen him all day and his office is not locked."  
    "Doesn't that strike you as odd?" Steve said, "do you think we should take a look, just in case?"  
    "I don't really know," Janice, replied, "it is very unusual."  
    "Come on," Steve said, taking her arm, "let's go and check, this is a top secret