"Holy cats, who are these guys?" Rourke exclaimed at the sight of the masked strangers. Eleanor saw him reach for his pistol. She looked to Milo in alarm, but he didn't seem to notice. He was gripping his hair excitedly as he gazed at the warriors.
"They…they've got to be Atlanteans," he sputtered.
"What?" Helga hissed back. "That's impossible!"
The leader of the group pointed at Milo and began speaking in a foreign language. The husky voice and slender hand indicated that the speaker was female.
"I think it's talking to you," Mole said, tugging at Milo's arm. Milo looked around for a moment and caught Eleanor's eye.
"Where's Sylvia?" he mouthed. She swiftly shook her head at him. Milo visibly gulped and turned back to the warrior who had addressed him again, this time slamming the butt of her spear on the ground.
Milo timidly responded to her in Atlantean. His speech was broken, but he gained confidence as he continued. It occurred to Eleanor that she still had the Journal.
Whatever Milo said to the warrior must have been understood. She removed her mask and handed it to the tall figure next to her before continuing to speak.
Eleanor had never seen anyone like this woman. She appeared to be young, but was clearly well trained for battle. She wore armor on her upper body and was slender and toned. She wore very little in the way of clothing. Eleanor knew that fashion in America was becoming more revealing for women, but she could not believe how confidently the woman wore a skirt that came above the knees and a top that left most of her torso exposed. The woman's posture was still threatening, but her eyes were filled more with curiosity than fury as she spoke with Milo.
Milo continued to struggle to hold up his end of the exchange until Eleanor suddenly recognized the language they were speaking in. Although she did not understand the words, she could tell that they were now conversing in Latin. Audrey shifted and gasped slightly as they addressed each other in Spanish and Mole stood up straighter as Milo asked a question in French and the woman responded, "oui, monsieur!"
"They speak my language!" he shouted, approaching the woman. "Pardon, mademoiselle…"
His voiced dropped beneath detection, but the woman's eyes widened as he spoke and she swiftly socked him in the face. Mole fell back against Vinny and Helga, who simultaneously allowed him to drop to the ground. Sweet clapped and whooped heartily.
"Ooh, I like her!" he grinned.
"About time someone hit him," agreed Audrey. "I'm just sorry it wasn't me!"
Helga pulled Rourke off to the side leaned toward him with one eye on the group.
"Commander," she whispered. "There were not supposed to be people down here. This changes everything."
"This changes nothing," he snapped.
The other warriors with the woman removed their masks and began conversing with the crew members. All of them were men and all seemed to be as multi-lingual as the woman.
"How do they know all these languages?" Eleanor asked, handing the Shepherd's Journal back to Milo.
"Their language must be based on a root dialect," Milo speculated. "It's just like the Tower of Babel!"
"Well, maybe English is in there somewhere," said Rourke. He pushed past Milo and introduced himself to the warriors. "We are explorers from the surface world. We come in peace."
"Welcome to the city of Atlantis," the woman said, now speaking English, with a gesture to the city ahead. "Come. You must speak with my father now."