Back on the New Hope, Abe and Babe dined on the lunch they had forgotten during the captivating sunrise. The couple exchanged pleasant thoughts conceived amidst the four-hour dawn. The awesome event had inspired sufficient enjoyment to raise their spirits and spark an intense desire to establish a surface base-camp. Their thoughts shifted to the correlation of what provisions to transport to the base in order to be the most efficient for their time and effort.

Abe impressed upon Babe the fact that she would have to pilot the shuttle back and forth alone to allow him time to set up the mechanical portions of the station. While he worked, she would have ample time to transport most of the necessary light cargo such as foodstuffs, bedding and clothing. On the first trip back to Hydrocryst, they would confer on a feasible site for the basecamp while the cargo bay was loaded with the heavier items such as the auxiliary fusion generator, food storage bins and construction tools.

Isolated from Abe, Babe hummed softly to herself as she decided on items destined for the surface. They had so many provisions aboard the New Hope that she was experiencing difficulty in making logical choices. In another section of the ship, Abe was picking his own thoughts to arrange the electronic gear and power equipment which they might need in their future explorations of the unknown interior. An unlimited assortment of useful items existed aboard the New Hope which could prove invaluable whenever the permanent move to Hydrocryst became a dire necessity. The New Hope's radiation shields and life support systems would fail prematurely from damage sustained during their light-speed voyage to this particular star system.

Babe packed her mate a solid lunch since he would be performing the heavier labor while she was enroute. She would pause briefly after reloading to feed herself as well as the animals. She and Abe would both check the growth chambers before departure.

Another full hour had elapsed before Babe met her mate back at the shuttle. Abe had already loaded the generator, various other electronics, some necessary tools, and a large dome tent constructed of composite artificial spider silk. The tent was scientifically designed to be virtually indestructible and would provide excellent protection from the elements should adverse conditions ever materialize. Abe also packed a smaller overnight version to take on short journeys deeper into the interior.

Abe kissed Babe, thanking his mate for the lunch she had prepared for him, completely unaware of the personal note she had cleverly concealed within it. Smiling to herself, she quietly followed him to the section of the ship where the precious embryos were silently growing.

As the couple passed through the security biolock, the electronic hum of lifesupport was barely audible. Abe and Babe could sense an ever-increasing level of biological activity with each successive visit to the chambers. They would soon realize the necessity to start communicating verbally to be in good practice by the date the computer had determined to awaken their peers. The couple would not be able to correspond with them through telepathy, even though the matched couples; like themselves, would share that particular trait.

All functions were operating normally, with the lone exception of the information absorption mode. The pair mentally over-rode their emotions concerning the dilemma to maintain their perspective for construction of the base camp. After slight adjustments to accommodate the increase in waste deposits, the couple silently strode out and secured the biolock.

Abe made a hasty detour to the zoo area to visit his friends, the eagles. Without a sound, he told Babe of his intent to take them to Hydrocryst and allow them to stretch their wings in their future domain. He also suggested to Babe to afford her doves the same privilege. She just smiled and kissed him, concealing the thoughts of her mention of the birds in the personal note hidden in his lunch. Babe instinctively knew her mate would be extremely pleased with her intuitive forethought.

At the zoo's entrance, Abe donned the leather vest and arm-guard he had devised for protection against his friends' sharp talons. Babe admiringly observed as the leather concealed the powerful muscles of his forearm. She was glad that she needed no special protection from her petite little doves.

Before Abe opened the biolock, the pair could hear the perceptive eagles shrieking a welcoming greeting to their human comrade, their sensitive instinct unveiling his unseen presence to them! Abe displayed a look of total gratification as he turned to Babe, mentally whispering to her that he could tell by the tone of the eagles that her doves were softly calling to her also, but they unerringly respected the domination of the fearless eagles. She kissed him and simply said, "I know this".

The audible words took Abe completely by surprise! For a fraction of a second, he did not realize that he had heard her with his ears rather than his mind! He adjusted quickly, smiled, and replied, "I know you do". The phrases were the first words spoken audibly since their departure from Earth!

The two pairs of birds had taken flight almost before the door had even completed its opening cycle. They settled lightly on Abe and Babe's shoulders as they walked toward the food stores for frozen meat scraps and seed. The other animals now greeted them excitedly in various tones, as was usual whenever they jointly visited the zoo.

While measuring out seed, the doves departed from Babe's shoulders, flying to different sections of the zoo. Puzzled, she walked to the cage the male had perched upon to discover the pheasants had built a shallow nest containing a full clutch of sixteen olive-buff eggs! Totally elated, she ran to the female's perch atop the rabbits' cage. Their pre-built nesting box also harbored a group of new life. The doe rabbit had lined it with fur and given birth to nine hairless, pink babies!

Abe had already picked up her thoughts and relayed the fact of her doves displaying the ancient belief of the foretelling of new life. He thought she should name them accordingly. Babe agreed and would ponder on the thought until something appropriate presented itself to her busy mind. Hand in hand, birds once again on their respective shoulders, they left the zoo and happily headed for the shuttle with endless thoughts of future possibilities drifting lazily through their unified minds.