Static rustled in Patrick's ear, so he repeated his call.

'I read you, Alpha four seven,' Control said, eventually, the voice echoing in Patrick's helmet. 'You sound panicky. What's the problem?'

Patrick sighed. 'There's no problem now. I thought we'd lost contact.'

'Well, we haven't. Why are you calling?'

'I'm reporting in.'

'Go on, then,' Control said.

Inside his bulky spacesuit, Patrick bunched his shoulders. His heartbeat slowed as his momentary panic receded. He hated travelling alone on the surface of the moon and losing communication was his greatest fear.

To take his mind from his former concern, he considered the echoscope. He smiled. The reading was still high.

'I'm standing on the edge of the crater and even from here, the echo is ten per cent higher than the Explorer obtained. This could be the one we've been waiting for.'

'Good for you, Alpha four seven.'

'Any idea as to why we lost transmission, Control?'

'Sorry about that,' Control said. 'We're all distracted back here, but keep up the good work, Alpha four seven. We're all rooting for you.'

'Distracted?'

'Too right.'

'What's the distraction?'

Patrick waited for a reply, but static filled his helmet.

Patrick shrugged then stared at the grey plain of Mare Serenitatis, calming himself before he started work. As he climbed back into the buggy, he pondered what could be distracting Control. For three years, his team had searched for comet fragments without success. Then last week the latest upgrade of the scientific instruments on board the orbiting Explorer had found the best candidate so far in this crater.

And best of all, the crater was ridiculously close to the colony.

This could be the most important discovery since they'd some to the moon. If the echoscope was correct and a comet fragment lay beneath this crater, the recyclable water that the impact hadn't burned off would revolutionize the moon's fragile ecosystem. They wouldn't need to ferry their water a quarter of a million miles any longer. These cost savings alone should secure their future no matter what budget cuts the WSA inflicted on them.

Patrick switched off the buggy controls to preserve power. He unclipped the sampler from the rear equipment locker and skipped to the crater. Carefully, he clambered over the rim. Although the fragmented rim was only two feet high, sharp rocks could damage his spacesuit and at best, end today's mission.

Once inside the crater, Patrick glanced around. It was featureless, two hundred yards wide, and filled with dust. The crater had nothing to distinguish it from thousands of other craters. Except what lay beneath the surface could make this the most fascinating of all moon craters.

Patrick examined his echoscope, which reported an even higher reading. He must be standing above the centre of the buried object.

'I'm here in the crater, Control. I'm going to dig down and take the first sample.'

'Yeah, whatever,' Control muttered, but not with a voice that Patrick recognized.

'Sorry, who is that speaking?' Patrick asked as he grounded the echoscope and unfurled the sampler.

'It's me, Marcus. John is watching the monitors, so I'm on duty. Look, Alpha four seven, do you want to stop whatever it is you're doing and take a break? I can patch through the visuals to your buggy, so you can watch.'

'Watch what?'

'Didn't John tell you, Alpha four seven. He's on the way. The baby is coming.'

The excitement in Control's voice made Patrick pause for a moment.

'I thought it wasn't due for a week?' Patrick asked. Then his mind registered that he didn't care one iota. The damn moon baby was so low a priority to him that he'd happily spend the rest of his life in this crater just to avoid discussing it with anyone.

'Yes, I know, but a quarter of an hour ago….'

Patrick whistled under his breath and filtered out Control's babble.

What was the point of getting excited about another baby? Patrick lived on the moon specifically because he didn't want to waste his life furthering the species. He craved science, exploration, life on the edge, and not the mundane matter of producing children.

Control stopped babbling, leaving Patrick to concentrate on erecting the sampler. This was a difficult task when he wore such bulky gloves and despite taking hundreds of dust samples over the last few years, sometimes Patrick jammed the sampler when he extended it from its folded position. Then he had to waste precious time fixing it. Patrick took a deep breath and edged the cover up an inch.

'I said, what's your money on, Alpha four seven?' Control shouted.

Patrick flinched and fumbled the sampler. It slowly tumbled from his grip and evaded his lunging grasp.

Patrick closed his eyes. He counted to five then opened them.

He sighed. The sampler lay at his feet, intact.

'I'm sorry,' Patrick muttered. 'I wasn't listening.'

He grabbed the sampler and pulled off the first part of the cover.

'Your money, what name is it on? I've put my money on Neil. You know after Neil Armstrong. That has to be the name. The favourite though is Chuck, after all--'

'Please would you stop telling me about this moon baby,' Patrick snapped. 'I am not interested. You have obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a damn. Now, just support me.'

Patrick straightened his back and stared at the horizon where, above the distant mountains, the bright blue-white globe of the Earth shone down on him. Even after years of living here, he still thought the Earth was a beautiful sight. Billions of people lived there. Millions were born every month, yet all anyone could talk about was the first moon baby.

To Patrick, this core sample was the only event of importance happening today. He might be about to save trillions of dollars and make their lives more bearable.

The moon baby only brought publicity.

'All right,' Control said. The voice sounded hurt. 'But you should take the visuals, Alpha four seven. One day, you'll be able to tell your kids that you were there when the first baby was born off the Earth. Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, Chuck Wenkelberg landing on Mars, and now a moon baby. This is a bigger than all those.'

The smallest fragment of interest phased through Patrick's mind.

'What are they filming? Not the actual birth and all the disgusting stuff, surely?'

Patrick hoped the sarcasm in his voice would travel well.

He pulled the last part of the sampler cover free and dropped the plastic sheet. It slowly descended, still in a crumpled state.

'No,' Control said. 'A camera is outside the infirmary with Brian. He's not at the birth, which I find a bit off, but he gave this interview and he sounded nervous. Now we're getting re-run film of the whole story. It's still exciting though.'

'Yeah, sounds exciting.' Patrick grabbed each end of the folded sampler.

'You bet, Alpha four seven. They say we're part of the biggest audience ever. Three-quarters of the Earth are tuning in right now. You don't want to miss this.'

Patrick extended the two ends of the sampler. A satisfying click vibrated through his spacesuit as the sampler locked.

'Sampler locked, Control. I'm setting up the base ready to take the first sample.'

'What's ready?'

'I've locked the sampler,' Patrick said slowly. 'I'm ready to set up the base.'

'Right,' Control mumbled.

Patrick lay the sampler on the ground and ran a hand over his helmet, mentally running fingers through his thinning hair.

'Do you know what I'm doing out here?'

'No. As I say, John is watching the broadcast and, well, so is everyone else. Wait! Something's happening. Just hang on. I'll keep you posted.'

'I'll try to keep my excitement under control, Control,' Patrick muttered.

Patrick removed the sampler base from his backpack.

To obtain the information on the object beneath him, he needed to take samples of varying depths from both the edge of the crater and further into the centre. For the first sample, he grounded the sampler in the flattest location that he could find.

'Base grounded and ready for checking prior to the first sample.'

'Great! I told you that something was about to happen. The broadcast has returned to the colony and Brian's gone into the infirmary. The baby must be coming. You ought to return. We'll be opening those million dollar champagne bottles soon.'

Patrick snorted his breath through his nostrils, trying to avoid being irritated again. The million dollar champagne bottles weren't his favourite subject.

The advanced portable echoscope that he'd requested wasn't included in the last shipment from Earth. His contact at the World Space Agency had explained that there wasn't room for his non-essential request after they'd sent a dozen bottles of special champagne instead. Apparently, the corks wouldn't explode and so the champagne would be safe to drink in the colony's fragile environment.

Now, everyone could celebrate the new arrival in style.

Patrick resolved that whatever he discovered in this crater today, he'd make a special effort to stay outside and not dignify the party with his patronage.

He shuffled the sampler base from side to side and dug it deeper into the dust.

In Patrick's earpiece, muffled cheering sounded.

Patrick ignored the sound and concentrated on the sampler base's control panel, which lit with a deep green glow. This meant the base was level to the surface. He gulped a deep breath.

'Green light on the sampler base. Ready to insert the sampler into the base. This is the big moment.'

'It sure is,' Control shouted. 'It's here. Guess what it is, Alpha four seven?'

'A baby. I've clicked the sampler into the base. The readings all check out. I'm ready to insert.'

'No, it's a boy. We all knew, but it's still great to hear. I must say, moon babies sure don't take long to pop out. Do you want to hear what Brian's saying, Alpha four seven?'

'Control, I do not.'

'I'm holding up my microphone so you can hear.'

Brian's voice sounded in Patrick's earpiece.

'The honour is all mine to announce that I'm a dad.'

Loud cheers filled Patrick's helmet.

Patrick tried to ignore the distraction as Brian burbled on.

'A new era in space exploration begins. This is the dawn of a new age, another giant leap for…'

Brian droned on, but Patrick now blanked his irritating tones. Patrick suspected that this minor technician from the hydroponics pods had cynically grabbed his only chance of immortality. Worse, the World Space Agency's publicity machine must have consumed months of effort in devising the phrase 'Dawn of a new age'. Patrick knew he'd hear this pathetic mantra quoted for the rest of his life.

Patrick completed his final sampler check and tried to think of his own immortal phrase for the real, greatest moment in space exploration. He settled for stating the facts. After all, no one was listening.

'I'm inserting the sampler through the base. The sampler is one yard down, two yards down, three yards down. Stopping at four yards for the first reading.' Patrick took another deep breath. 'Core sample ready to withdraw, Control.'

While just keeping his hands from shaking, Patrick withdrew the sample.

'Boy, oh boy,' Control said. 'That was some speech. Dawn of a new age, another giant leap indeed. Bet you're glad I let you listen, Alpha four seven.'

No one remembers seconds. The second man on the moon. The second person on Mars. The birth of the second moon baby. The second person to discover a comet fragment on the moon.

All this was of no concern to Patrick.

'I could be a first,' he whispered. 'A pity that nobody will notice.'

He stared at the withdrawn sampler.

'Riveting stuff, Control,' he said, raising his voice. 'I've extracted the sampler and I'm peeling open the rod. We should know whether I've been successful in a few minutes. Hold your breath back there.'

'Hold my breath? You can say that again, Alpha four seven. Brian is about to announce the name. Let it be Neil. Let it be Neil…'

Patrick opened the rod and laid it on the ground. He knelt beside the sampler and stared at the core that he'd extracted.

Even in the harsh sunlight, the core looked odd.

He'd expected it to be identical to normal moon dust with only his hydroscope able to detect whether water was present. With his head on one side, Patrick stared at the core.

The core was lighter than normal dust. Some fragments even shone.

'Let it be Neil. Let it be Neil…' Control said.

Leaning forward, Patrick peered at the core.

Darker bands ran along the core's length, almost like veins.

Despite the deep polarisation of Patrick's visor, iridescent colours rippled down the veins.

With a tentative finger, Patrick touched one of the veins.

The vein pulsed with light.

'Oh my god. I don't believe it,' Patrick shouted. 'That was incredible.'

'I know. I know. Armstrong! What kind of name is that for a kid? Armstrong, indeed. What did you say your money was on?'

'Strange,' Patrick said as pure light rippled around him.

Patrick's spacesuit flexed and melted.

'Did I hear that right, Strange? Hope you didn't put too much money on that name, Alpha four seven.'

'I feel strange. Almost like…'

'Alpha four seven, you sound weird. You must be too excited. I know I am. You'd better return to the colony. You can do whatever it is you're doing another day. The party has started and it's going to be a big one. We're toasting Armstrong Jones, the first moon baby.'

Patrick stared at his gloved hand. The glow wasn't so startling now that his spacesuit had returned to its former shape. New thoughts bounced around his mind. His breathing slowed. His body was even lighter than before.

This was odd, but good.

Unbidden, a voice came from deep inside him.

'I will return,' it muttered.

Patrick climbed over the crater rim and strode back to his buggy. Once there, he stared at the plain before him. It was no longer grey and had colours that he didn't know existed.

A thought came to Patrick from deep inside his mind, almost from a new part of him. Patrick smiled. He'd never thought of using a champagne bottle in that way before.

'This is great, Alpha four seven,' Control said. 'We have the first moon baby. We'll never beat that, not ever.'

'The first moon murder will,' the something within Patrick whispered.

Once in the buggy, Patrick headed back to the colony. The glow that coated his spacesuit strengthened with each passing mile.