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strength and resolve to become an astronaut.’
     
     
     
    ‘So a fear of black holes – how ironic is that for an astronaut!’ Olivia continued, ‘You’re hardly going to want to go to the stars with me.’
     
    ‘I’d go to the end of the universe with you, Olivia,’ Scott said tenderly and in that moment they knew they had made their decision.
     
    At precisely 10 a.m. lunar time, the conference door hissed open and Olivia and Scott entered. The General smiled. He would have bet a fortune that these two would be the first to volunteer. Five minutes later Alison and Steve entered but the door did not open again by 10.15.
     
    However, the General was delighted with his two teams.
     

Chapter 10
     
    LifeSeeker-1
     
     
     
    Both ROL’s had lifted off around midday lunar time and Zec-1 had set a course for the far side of the Moon which was always hidden from Earth.
     
    ‘Emergency!  Emer.’
     
     Zec-1’s instruction was cut short and Olivia and Scott were startled as Commander AJ’s face appeared on the dome in front of the command seats of ROL-1.
     
    ‘Zec-1 doesn’t know we exist,’ AJ continued, ‘but he does now as I’ve downloaded LifeSeeker-1 into his memory. With a bit of luck Zec-1 will now see us as friend and not foe!’
     
     
     
    ‘Because of the high security attributed to the project and LifeSeeker-1, I must keep secrets even from my own family. Now Zec-1 and Zec-2 are privy to Project Omega and the two starships.’ 
     
     
     
    ‘But Zec-1 couldn’t pick you up before,’ Scott replied, ‘you must have a pretty good screen around you.’
     
    ‘Yes, we’re only just over your horizon – you would have bumped into us before you saw us!’ AJ said with a smile, ‘and now Alison and Steve in ROL-2 are on-line.’
     
     ‘We need to be precise with our computer identity,’ AJ explained, ‘so ROL-1 is Zec-1, ROL-2 is Zec-2 and LifeSeeker-1 is Zec-C for Control. I’m putting up some images of LifeSeeker-1 on your domes so you will have a better picture of us before you make visual contact.’
     
    A large section of the dome then showed several line drawings of the starship.
     
     
     
    ‘LifeSeeker-1 is 150m long and 80m diameter at the ion drive. The command, accommodation and all utilities  are contained within a 30m diameter by 80m long tubular front section. It was a huge undertaking to build a starship in space and I managed the whole process through inventory, materials procurement, sub-assembly, transport logistics, final build and test.’
     
     
     
    The astronauts in the two landers looked through the clear dome to the horizon and sat back in awe as the huge starship started to appear with its vast arrays of solar cells glistening in the low sunlight. The ion drive dominated the skyline and the huge fins seemed to curve perfectly into the relatively small forward body of the ship.
     
    Olivia and Scott were transfixed by the sight. They watched in silence as the twin lander bay doors on top of the ship started to open.
     
     
     
    ‘Each door is 10m wide by 30m long and positioned either side of the vertical fin. Between the doors and the ion drive are four emergency escape rockets. At the front is a 30m diameter command centre made from the same cyano-acrylic building blocks used at Moon Base, the lander command domes and the astronaut’s helmets.’
     
     
     
    ‘ROL-1 is seeking permission to dock with LifeSeeker-1.’
     
     ‘ROL-1 confirm identity,’ Zec-C commanded .
     
    As previously, Olivia and Scott put their palms down on the control panel. Now it was LifeSeeker-1 that checked the identity of the astronauts and gave permission to start the docking procedure to bay door 1. LifeSeeker-1 was in geostationary orbit behind the moon but even so it was travelling at over 1,500 kilometres per hour so ROL-1 had to slowly catch up with the starship and then begin the intricate procedure of exactly matching speeds whilst positioning itself 100