Ch 22
Work was done for the day so Joan went up to their room to grab their mermaid tails so they all could go for a swim. Their expanded bedroom had the king sized bed directly beside the queen sized bed so they had plenty of room. They'd decided it was silly sleeping in different rooms. Her, Allison, Malinara and Bob all slept here. They were together after all, and sometimes their romps did involve all four of them.
One thing they did was properly honor Hanna. Her breasts lay in a glass enclosure filled with nitrogen to ensure they stayed preserved. A cover went over the glass. At the moment the cover was rolled back. Joan went in to find Malinara sitting and gazing at Hanna's breasts.
"Look, but don't fondle," Joan chided.
Malinara snapped her head to see Joan. She offered Joan a smile. "I won't. I was just thinking…" her voice trailed off.
"Thinking what?" Joan coaxed.
In a musing tone, Malinara said, "It's a miracle Bob was able to Hanna's after what happened to her. I was just hoping he'll be able to get mine too."
Walking over to her, Joan clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I am sure he will. It's not something you have to worry about."
Malinara winced. "But I do! Suppose I get … eaten by something!"
"Mal, nothing is going to eat you," Joan said firmly. "You worry way to much about this."
"But it's important!" Malinara cried. "Sometimes I think I should have Robert take them early so I knew he has them."
"You're crazy, you know that?" Joan asked in a hard tone. "And I am sure he likes to see them ON you, instead of just lying there in a case by themselves. Trust me, he wants to see them ON you. You know how much he likes to play with boobs, right? He can't do that, and you won't be able to feel your nips if they get lopped off, so stop worrying about it!"
Malinara winced. "Strange things happen to us."
Joan let out a grumble and pulled the cover back down over Hanna's breasts. "OK, we're all going for a swim, come get your tail out and STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!" She hauled Malinara up by the arm. "Come on, the more you dwell on it, the crazier you're getting. Let's go do something fun, OK?"
Malinara went with Joan, but she didn't stop thinking about it.
.
Bob and Allison were already at the dock by the pontoon boat when Joan arrived with Malinara. Bob had a pair of two foot diameter sections of plastic pipe and had fitted conical screens in the ends of them. They also had tools, wood and some metal strapping.
Eyeing this, Joan asked, "What are you doing?"
Allison beamed Joan a smile. "Bob figured out how we can run the motor and not endanger anyone!"
Bob pointed to the pipe. "See, we put these tubes with the screen on the ends up to the props. If anyone is shallow, they hit the tubes and not the props! They will get bumped to the side. We can use the motor safely."
"Sure it will work?" Joan asked. "What about the strapping? No one will be cut on it?"
"The tubes will be held down by a wood structure, the strapping is just to lay along the wood to reinforce it," Bob explained. "It won't be sticking out edge on where someone can get hurt by it."
"Joan, I looked over the plan carefully," Allison said. "I am positive this will work."
"It's not going to interfere with the wheels, or the shafts for the props?" Joan asked.
"Robert is good at building stuff, and I'll help," Malinara offered.
Joan eyed them then said, "We can try it, but be careful. I can see an accident happening here."
To help make sure no accident happened, Joan had Bob take the boat out of the water. He put the wheels down, Joan and Allison pulled the boat by it's hitch up onto the beach. Once the boat was high and dry, they worked at putting the tubes on.
It was harder than Bob thought it would be. He had to cut a wide slit lengthwise halfway down the tubes so the tubes would fit over the shafts for the props. The next challenge was getting the tubes centered over the props. Joan also reminded him the props had to inside the tubes from the back, also, which put them against the rudders. The wood structure to hold the tubes in place was another more complex build than Bob suspected. Instead of under the deck, the supports had to go across the tops of the pontoons, with the metal strapping around the tubes.
It also took longer than anyone planned. Joan's idea for a swim party was dashed as the sun was going down by the time they had the 'safety' tubes in place and secured. So much for swimming today.
Well, maybe tomorrow they could have a boat party out on the lake.
.
John Connor got a call from John Henry. Catherine wanted to see them at area 51 on Monday for an important venture. John's first questions was, "What's this venture?"
"I cannot say," John Henry explained. "All I can tell you is Mrs. Weaver and others want you and your wives to attend."
John thought for a moment. "Something to do with the Atlantians?"
"Roughly, but not directly."
John raised an eyebrow. Apparently whatever this was, was secret. "We don't have more of those violent Atlantians coming, do we?"
"No, I do not believe so. This is something else."
"Do we have a way to get there, or do we find our own way?" John asked.
"Mrs. Weaver has authorized Joan to fly you there in the C-200. It should be a comfortable trip," John Henry offered.
"Does Joan know?"
"Not yet. Would you please inform her?"
"I will. Tell Catherine we'll be there," John said in a huff.
John called Joan and explained what Catherine wanted. Joan agreed to fly the plane, she also wanted Bob, Allison and Malinara to come along for the ride. That was fine with John. He had to smirk at her reason. Malinara was 'acting strange' again and she didn't want to leave Mal and Bob alone. They agreed to meet early Monday morning up at the air base.
.
Cameron and Delilah was curious what Weaver wanted, and assured John that if it wasn't important, she wouldn't have asked them to come. Monday morning, they drove up to the air base The C-200 was out on the tarmac with the rear door down and was being loaded with some crates.
The Air base commander, a T-888, met John and his wives with a salute. "Greetings, Generals Connor. The transport is being loaded. We expect the arrival of the primary pilot soon. Would you care for some refreshments?"
John returned his salute. "Thank you but no. I take it this is going to be a cargo run also?"
"Yes, for items Mrs. Weaver has called for. There is also a passenger section towards the forward end of the cargo hold," the terminator explained.
"Good, we don't have to sit on boxes," Cameron said with a smirk.
"That would be un safe," the terminator said firmly. "As soon as the cargo is finished loading, you may drive your vehicle in so you will have that for mobility once you arrive."
"Wow, I get to take my Jeep," Cameron noted dryly.
John shrugged. "It's a big base."
They weren't there long before Bob drove up in their SUV with his family.
"Hi Dad, we're gong to Nevada?" Joan asked.
"We are. You get to pilot too!" John beamed.
"We get to ride the bus," Allison said with a grin.
The terminator looked at the plane and said, "The cargo is loaded. Please drive your vehicles up and in."
"We're taking our own transportation," John explained.
Bob waved to the car. "OK, everyone, back in the car."
Inside the plane, the crates were loaded and strapped down to the sides. Both vehicles fit in nearly to the front of the cargo hold. The Connors all got out and terminators strapped their vehicles in place. Joan and a pair of terminators went up into the cockpit. The rear ramp came up and shut. Everyone took seats. Delilah noted a TV screen. She turned it on. It showed the tarmac in front of the plane.
Joan's voice came over the intercom. "Welcome everyone to flight 412 directly to area 51, wherever they want us to land! Make sure any tray tables you have and your seats are in the fully upright position, and hopefully this will be a boring trip!"
Everyone watched as Joan taxied out and lined up at the end of the runway. The plane picked up speed, but not very fast. Joan used most of the runway to get air borne.
With the soft drone of the engines and all but motionless feel of the ride, it was a boring trip. Time to catch up on some sleep.
Joan piloted smoothly. So smoothly that when she landed, if it wasn't for the chirp of the wheels, no one would have woken up to see they were back on the ground.
Cameron noted a small truck with 'Follow me' on the back led them over in front of a hanger.
When Joan came down from the cockpit, John said, "Joan, that was some very smooth flying. Good job!"
"Thanks" she beamed.
The ramp came down, Bob and John backed their vehicles out, then men with a fork truck and a flatbed came to unload the plane. An officer went over to have John and Bob follow him in his military vehicle.
Bob did, and asked Joan, "I thought we were just flying here and back?"
Joan shrugged. "Maybe he wants us out of the way while the plane's being unloaded."
Up ahead, the doors to a large hanger were opened part way, guards to the sides. They were motioned in. Inside, they were directed to park in a line by the wall. Bob noted an inside set of hanger doors that looked like they rolled up. Again, guards were at those doors and a set of side doors they were being guided to.
Through the side door they went up a flight of stairs and into what looked like a conference room. Catherine Weaver was there with an officer from NASA, another Air Force officer and ten skinless terminators.
Catherine beamed a smile at seeing them. "Welcome! It is nice to see such participation! This is going to be a very important mission, and the first of it's kind. It has been suggested by some to use Atlantian ships, but relatively they are much slower than the XTS."
On a screen in the front of the room a side on picture of an oval craft with six engines in the rear, and an overhead view that also showed small forward canted wings in the front and larger backswept wings in the rear appeared.
"The XTS has thruster engines in the rear and maneuvering thrusters top bottom and both sides as well as breaking thrusters in the front. The wings you see are for atmospheric travel and are retractable for space flight. Although it does have thruster engines, the primary mover for this craft in space is a space-time warping drive that bends space around the vehicle. This also will bend any object around the craft from random particles, to whole planetoids. This drive is very fast. On a test run, It arrived at Mars the day after it left Earth, the next day it moved into the atmosphere of Venus to take samples. That was being cautious and using low thrust during the space warp. From the data gathered, the XTS is undetactable when it is in space warp…"
"WHAO!" Joan cried, interrupting her. "You're saying that that ship basically leaves the universe when this drive is engaged?"
"That is correct," Catherine stated. "Those on board will get a skewed version of the area away from the ship if you view it with no correction, but on board sensors will compensate for the stretched and warped space so you will see things where they really are."
"What's the mission?" John asked.
"Investigate the planet Atlantis. Find out what's still there. We know some people escaped. We need to know who's left there and how they are doing," Catherine stated. "Due to the possibility that there are violent people there, the XTS was made to be super-stealth. No visual, or electromagnetic tracking will pick it up. If something flies straight at it, the warp will bend it around the ship. Even light."
"Catherine," Cameron said, "If light is bent around the ship also, how can anyone inside the ship see anything outside the warp bubble?"
"Minor refraction. The test proved that if there is something normally visible, enough refraction gets through for the sensors to pick up objects and display them. The effect is similar to a one way mirror. You can see out dimly, but nothing can see in. There will also be 20 drones on board to launch to get a closer look at things. The drones cannot be deployed or recovered while the ship is in a warp bubble. There will be some danger in using them. If there is a need for EVA, or exiting on a planet that does not have good atmosphere, the battle suits I designed are self contained and can protect you in any environment. Also as a precaution, there will also be plasma rifles on board for the protection of the crew."
"You expect resistance from Atlantians?" Delilah asked.
"Expect anything, just in case," Catherine said firmly.
"And if we find hostiles there?" John asked.
"Use your own judgment, John," Catherine said firmly. "You will be far from any outside support. What you decide to do will be totally up to you."
"So we have no idea what we're going to find there," John said in a grumble.
"None. That was why you were picked to lead this mission, John. Everyone can trust your judgment," Catherine stated. The officers nodded.
"And you don't know how long this is going to take," John concluded.
Catherine nodded. "That is up to you. Make a quick trip there and back, or stay and help as you see fit."
John scrubbed his head. "Hokay, I suppose we should go see this ship. Anything else before we head down to it?"
"No, John. Thank you for taking this mission on."
Hearing about this incredible ship, Joan had to go see it. All the terminators walked out, intermingled with John and his wives. Joan and her family followed them.
Trooping down another stairway led them right to an open cargo hatch on the black ship. The terminator crew who'd been on board showed the Connors around, and headed for the control room. Seeing doors to the side towards the back, Joan and her family went that way.
The ship was fairly good sized. There was a main corridor with rooms to both sides. The hallway had overhead lighting on the upper corners, the floors, walls and ceiling were a light gray. Side rooms opened with a light tap to open the light blue doors.
While John, Cameron and Delilah headed for the control room, Bob, Joan, Allison and Malinara wanted to see the accommodations. They passed by decent sized bunk rooms, several store rooms and two filled with the armored suits Bob and Joan had borrowed that also had plasma rifles in racks down the center of that room. Six rooms were stuffed with nothing but food. They came to a kitchen / lunchroom, and they even saw a workout room.
An announcement was made. "All stores and personnel on board."
Allison said, "Let's go see the control room before we go."
They all agreed and headed back down the hallway.
Another announcement came. "Ship on internal power. All systems normal."
"Sounds like they're powering up. We better hurry if we want to see the control room," Bob noted. They broke into a jog.
Joan suddenly stopped. She paused and said, "I think we're moving."
They ran for the control room.
"See any intercoms!" Alison asked in a frantic tone.
"No, let's just hurry!" Bob cried.
.
John got the report they were ready to leave. Since warping didn't affect anything outside the ship, he verified the ship was ready and right after they left the hanger, the terminator pilot engaged warp and they watched the earth fly by and space surrounded them.
A terminator explained, "We are flying a predetermined path outside the solar system to the Atlantian system. Expect to be at the terminator barrier to the solar system in one hour at current speed."
It was then Bob and his wives ran into the control room. "Ahh, Mr. Connor, can we go now?" Bob asked. He then saw noting but black in a monitor and something really big whizzed by.
John turned to see his kid's faces gaping at the monitor. "Why are you here?" he asked in a squeak.
Weakly, Joan offered, "We just wanted to see the ship."
John frowned at them. "Helm, can we turn around and go back?"
"Sorry General, we are on a predetermined course to Atlantis. Once there we can change direction. ETA, 36 hours."
Cameron eyed their kids. "It looks like you're coming with us. There's free bunkrooms. Go pick yours."
Delilah chuckled. "I was wondering who'd have the next 'oops'. Looks like it's you and your clan, Joan."
"But…" Bob said weakly.
"There's spare bunkrooms in case we want to pick up some Atlantians," John said, "Go grab one for yourselves. Joan? As long as you're here, come back up and you can learn how to fly this thing. Bob or Allison can learn too."
"Look at the bright side, you should be home in about a week or so," Cameron offered.
"A week?" Allison cried.
With a sigh, Bob led his wives out to find a place to sleep.
.
The bunk rooms were just that. Rooms with two bunks on each wall and a small room in the back that was a bathroom. One sink, one toilet and a single person shower.
Malinara frowned at the room. "At least we can all sleep in the same room," she grumbled.
Joan grinned at her. "But hey! We're taking a trip through space! We're the first ones to ever do that. Isn't that great?"
"Wonderful," Allison said tonelessly.
Bob sighed. "We had no idea they were going to jump in and go like that."
Joan shrugged. "I think Dad wanted to get started so he could get this over with. Besides, by what was explained, we're moving much faster that the speed of light, which is supposed to be impossible. The first time anyone from Earth has done that, and we're part of it!"
Bob let out a mirthless chuckle. "Zoom, baby."
"I know you're excited, Joan, but we have no clothes, nothing but what we're wearing," Allison stated.
Joan blinked at her. "Oh, yeah. We'll manage."
"We'll have to," Bob agreed. "Then again, maybe there's some uniforms of something on board we can wear."
"Dad will know," Joan said firmly.
"Let's go see, and remember the blue door we're at." Allison added.
Bob noted a shelf that had a note pad and a marker on it. He picked up the marker. "I'll write our names on the door."
"Good thinking, I'm going to see Dad." Joan said and left. Allison left with her. Malinara went out in the hallway with Bob.
Watching him write on the door, she asked, "Robert, we got food here, and a place to sleep, so it's not that bad … right?"
Bob frowned. "And while we're out here hitching a ride through the universe without even a towel, no one knows where we went and all our jobs aren't being tended to. Hey, maybe we can eat at the restaurant at the end of the universe."
"There's a restaurant out in space?" Malinara asked.
Bob glanced at her. "Something I read."
.
Up in the control room, John assured Joan that beside the wash room in every bunkroom, there were blue uniforms in a locker. "They are one size fits all, but you can use them if you want," he explained.
Joan cringed. "You're talking spandex?"
"The material is different, but basically the same."
"Nothing fancy then," Joan concluded.
"Sorry. You can also clean your own clothes," John pointed out.
"Since we're here, what do we do?" Joan asked. "I'll go stir crazy if I try to do nothing for a whole week!"
Studying a screen, Cameron laughed. "Joan, if you do nothing for a few hours you get stir crazy." she pointed to the pilot and said, "Learn how to fly this thing for starters. Allison, study up on drone control. We'll be needing those when we get to Atlantis. Where's Bob and Malinara?"
"Putting our names on our door," Joan said as she sat down by the pilot. "They should be here soon." Joan then listened as the pilot began to explain how to operate this craft and the energies and controls used.
When Bob and Malinara arrived, John put Bob to the task of studying the ship's engineering. The engines, thrusting units and how the warp bubble formed. He got sent to the back of the ship. Malinara looked lost, so John made her the message taker and runner. She was happy she had a job.
John was also hoping with tasks to keep them occupied, the kids wouldn't be getting themselves in trouble.
.
Although there was some very advanced science built into this ship, Joan got a good handle on the theory of operation and the fine manipulations involved with making the warp bubble that allowed them to run at completely incredible speeds. The C-200 she piloted was like a big bus. This space ship was a Ferrari on steroids due to it operating outside the normal universe. Zero drag and zero effective weight made every thruster very touchy. By the time the first sleep cycle came, Joan was ready to pilot this ship wherever they had to go. She did take the early morning watch with another terminator.
One thing Joan, nor any of them was happy about was the single bunks. Malinara wanted to put all their mattresses on the floor, she hated sleeping alone. Joan got the lower left, Bob had the upper left, Malinara was top right, Allison bottom right. All of them were irritated that only one person at a time could fit in the bathroom/shower. They also cleaned their clothes with themselves.
Joan was up and out to the control room for the early watch. After Allison got her turn in the bathroom, Bob took his. Alison paused getting dressed. When Bob came out and Malinara went in to get clean, Allison grabbed Bob for a quickie before they left. Malinara had planned on one, but didn't get her chance. She decided to go to the engine room to see if she could snag Robert for a private moment.
Joan helped plot their position in space and verify they were on course. According to the information from the sensors, they were a little ahead of schedule. Instead of 12 more hours, Joan and the terminator pilot both figured they had 10.5 hours left to get to Atlantis. Coming back into normal space above the ecliptic plane, they would be within a half million miles of the planet, where John wanted to start scanning the area.
Allison was also ready with the drones. She and the terminator would each launch one drone when they re-entered normal space. John wanted to view the planet and anything orbiting it from a distance before they approached.
By the timing, John and Cameron concluded right after lunch, they would be there.
From the information Catherine had gotten from the Atlantians, there were few satellites in orbit around the planet, and no natural bodies nearby except for the two small moons orbiting. Excited now about seeing an alien planet, they were ready to slip back into normal space. First, Joan put on the braking thrusters to slow them down until the universe outside look stopped. She and the terminator scrutinized their views to make sure they were all but stopped.
"Re entering normal space," Joan announced, and shut down the warp bubble. The sensor views flexed and space did look normal now. Off to their left was a small world. "There it is, off the port bow," Joan announced.
"I'm getting some radio traffic," Delilah said. "At least someone's still down there."
"Launch two drones," John said.
"Launching," Allison replied. "Drones headed planet side. Putting the drone views up on two big screens."
"Delilah, any TV type signals?" John asked.
"Give me a minute, checking frequencies."
Cameron announced, "John, we're on a rough intercept course to Atlantis. Fifteen hours and we'll be in orbit. Our path is clear."
The pair of cylindrical four foot long drones headed for the planet ahead of the ship, scanning for any debris as they went. One moon was visible, it wasn't quite round and only 500 miles in diameter. Drifting in behind the drones, Cameron kept a close watch with radar as well as visual scanning.
"I got a TV signal," Delilah announced. "Putting it up … What's this?"
On the screen in front of Delilah, a picture showed an open air court. A man in a red robe stood on a platform facing a dozen women who were naked and kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs. To the side was a man with some kind of sword. The robed man spoke in Atlantian.
Delilah translated. "He's saying the women have been disloyal and will suffer punishment. The guy with the sword is walking around behind the one on the end."
John and his wives winced as the man chopped off a woman's head, then moved to the next one. "Find another channel!" John said quickly. He didn't want to watch a televised execution.
Delilah searched for another channel. "That was barbaric." She found another station. This one had unhappy looking women lined up on a stage. A man in front was auctioning them off. "Real barbaric." she grumbled. On another channel she found two men in a pit ring, brandishing knives at each other as the crowd around them were routing them on. "They had fallen about as low as they can go, from what I'm seeing," Delilah stated.
"Yeah," John agreed in a heavy tone. "See if you can find anyone who's not trying to kill each other."
"I'll try," Delilah replied.
Cameron spoke up. "If there are any non violent people left down there, I am sure they have isolated themselves and are hard to get to. Islands, mountaintops, isolate valleys away from what used to be civilization."
"To stay hidden, I doubt they will be broadcasting anything," John said.
"Should we go down and kick some asses?" Joan asked.
John shook his head. "We go down only if we find people fit to bring back. At the moment, I think those people are hiding. If they are fairly safe, we should leave them alone."
Allison announced, "The drones are in high orbit. Coming up on a port city. It's not looking good."
"Put it on the main screen," John told her.
Looking down on a bay and the city around it, the first thing John noted was blocked off streets with debris and trashed vehicles. Buildings had covered over windows. There were some figures moving around with weapons, possibly armor. Most of the others who looked to be doing work wore thin gray clothes.
"It looks like an armed camp," Cameron noted. "Soldiers, possibly slave labor. Ships look rusted, I see a barge by a dock that looks like they are growing food on it. Not one ship, vehicle or crane looks to be operational. They are sliding backwards. I'm thinking they have basic survival skills only. A couple small boats have sails."
"And to think they once were high enough in tech to build space ships," John grumbled with a shake of his head. "What happened to them? Did a virus or something cause this violent tendency that degraded their civilization so badly?"
"It's possible." Delilah offered. "From everything we know, they started out on Earth where they had a thriving civilization until the great flood came. They move here and lasted a while longer with high tech, but then something happened to screw up their minds. The ones who saw others becoming violent built ships and mostly got away. The ones who stayed continue to degrade. Whatever it was that's doing this to them, it may well be a planetary virus, or maybe an enzyme they have been eating."
"That is most likely the case," a terminator by Delilah agreed. "If it is an environmental factor and it's planet wide, they possibly no one is safe living here. Being slow acting, it also may be undetectable."
John rubbed his chin. "The question is, can we do anything about it?"
"To discover what it might be, we'd have to study one of the more violent ones. Possibly do an autopsy on them," Cameron replied.
"Long term study," John said.
"Yes. Something like that may take years."
"That's not our mission," John stated. "Studying the planet and the people would require a much bigger mission than we can possibly do. We came to look and see and do what we can, not take on an impossible task."
"It's a damn shame what happened to them," Allison said sadly.
"It is," Cameron agreed. "Like John said, we are not outfitted with the tools or the personnel to take on such a task. We do what we can and head home."
"OK! We move on and get a look at other cities and some rural areas if we can," John announced. "Everyone not busy with something else, get a drone to control. We need to find out as much as we can. Joan, put us in high orbit. I want the ship to remain unseen while we're here."
.
While the XTS drifted in high orbit and used drones to go down and look at the planet, they also got the planet's orbit around the sun here noted as well as it's size and the climate conditions. Everywhere they found people, it appeared to be a caste system and low tech as well as low morality. Cameron came up with the idea of sectioning areas to see if there was a difference in the behavior of some people to others.
They did find a large island far from the main continents that had a population that were better dressed and used boats with engines and had whole buildings. They also were some of the only ones who noted the drones high overhead.
John had Delilah send a drone down with a radio set on it. Picking a town square where it would be easily seen, She landed the drone in an area with benches where people gathered.
The ones in the square saw the drone coming down and quickly moved to the sides. A few ran. They all looked upset as they eyed the drone.
Once the drone was down, Delilah spoke in her best Atlantian. "Hello, will someone please talk to me?"
A man in a green and white uniform came over to stare at the drone. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Delilah Connor. I came to ask if you are violent ones."
"We are not" the man stated. "We came here to avoid the violent ones! I see the machine you sent, but where are you?"
"Orbiting your planet. Do any of you know why people turned violent?"
The man sat on a nearby bench. "We just know they have. You are in orbit? Where did you get your ship? Who sent you?"
"With help from some Atlantians who came to our planet for refuge, we built our ship. We came to find out what this planet was like now and who's left here. The Atlantians who live on our planet wanted to know how people are doing here, as did we."
The man stood up and called to one of the people watching. "Go get the Mayor and Durgan! We have contact with a peaceful outside source!"
Turning back to the drone, the man asked, "Have you seen much of our planet? Have you found other non violent populations?"
"We have seen much of your planet, yes. As far as other non violent people, so far, you are the only ones we've found. I'm sorry to say that much of your planet has devolved onto barbarism and a caste system of master and slaves."
The man shook his head. "It's world wide then."
"Yes, and we have a theory why that is. It is quite possible there is a virus being contracted, or a chemical in the food consumed. Do you have anyone who can check for these possibilities?" Delilah asked.
A man in a white lab coat came running with another man in a suit. "We have visitors?" the man in the suit asked.
"A machine from a visiting space ship." the green and white uniformed man said, "I'm talking to a Delilah Connor."
The man in the suit asked, "Why not come down and speak with us? We are not violent."
"We didn't know that," Delilah explained. "Plus, we don't look like you. We didn't want to alarm anyone."
The man in the suit stared at the drone. "You are truly aliens?"
Delilah laughed. "Yes, we are. We have some of your people living on our planet. We came to find out how the rest of you are doing."
.
While John listened to the conversation, he also kept track of anything in orbit and Cameron was searching for anything that may be coming at them. There were also drones out on other parts of the planet he had to keep track of.
The good news was this island population was doing well and was remote enough to stay hidden for a long time, seeing how the rest of the planet's inhabitants were devolving. There was little chance they would be found. The Atlantians here were happy and prosperous. They liked the peaceful home they had made.
They were a bit nervous that Delilah admitted her people weren't completely peaceful. Yes, they did get along with other species, but if threatened, they did defend themselves vigorously with whatever it took to keep themselves and their families safe. Even killing.
The Atlantian Mayor did ask if they could send a few people to see how their fellows on Earth were doing. John agreed to this. They would land on the island in two days to take on the passengers who wanted to come.
That island was the only pleasant place John and his crew found. It seemed the rest of the planet was covered with diminishing populations of violent people. Whatever was affecting them was everywhere except for that one island.
When they returned to that island, John had the drones out in a picket a few miles out to the sides so no one else noticed them landing. The place they set down was a large gaming field. The bleachers around the field were full of local inhabitants. Joan set them down easy.
The only ones who could speak Atlantian were Delilah and Cameron, so when they opened the hatch, the pair walked out to wave to the crowds who returned their waves.
Meeting the Mayor with a smile, Delilah said, "It's good to see you, Mr. Mayor."
"And it is good to see you!" he beamed in return. "Some of us were wondering if you had tentacles."
Cameron and Delilah laughed. "No, nothing like that, we just look a bit different," Cameron explained. "Originally, the initial Atlantis was on Earth, where we're from. I suspect we are cousin species."
"Yes, that is a legend we learned!" the Mayor said. "So that legend is true!"
A small group of men and women were behind the Mayor. The man in front of the group asked, "So we are returning to our ancestral home?"
Delilah winced. "Not exactly. Yes, you'll be returning to your original planet, but the city of Atlantis is long gone. No one is sure where it was. We have theories, but so far have yet to find any evidence of it's location."
The Mayor waved to the people behind him. "Let me introduce your passengers. This is Rolan and Gale, Marlan and Katty, Dugal and Mila, Petren, Shiba and Lena. All are of the Dilophus clan."
"Hello, I am Delilah Connor, this is Cameron Connor. All the mostly humans on board you will meet are our family. Please, come aboard."
.
Delilah took the task of showing the Atlantians the ship, Cameron had to get back to the control room for takeoff. With Joan at the controls, they lifted off smoothly and rose high enough in the air to form a warp bubble and get back into orbit.
Once there, they plotted out their return trip to Earth. It wasn't just as easy as going back the way they came. Stars moved, and the one Earth was at, wasn't where they saw it from here. They had to figure out where it was now and head for that point in the galaxy.
"Ok, I think we got it," Joan told the terminator with her.
"Yes, our calculations should be correct, they match," the terminator replied.
"Dad! We're ready to go home!" Joan announced.
"Then bubble up and let's get there," John told her.
"Yes, Captain Daddy!"
What Joan nor the terminator noticed was while they were doing their computations, the ship did an auto-correct to maintain orbit and shifted them a few degrees off the way they'd been pointing. Joan activated the warp bubble and put on thrust to shoot them off in the wrong direction.
.