Doctor Abby Griffin slept and took her meals in the monitor room ever since the dropship left the Ark. Personally tied to the importance of this mission, she oversaw everything, using all the knowledge she had to explain the vital readings of all the delinquents sent to earth. However, despite her medical readings, there was still the problem of communicating with the Arkers. In order to overcome this obstacle, she had recruited the help of a mechanic prodigy by the name of Raven Reyes. Together, the team of women worked long hours day and night to patch the bridge between Earth and the Sky.
The doctor looked at the digital clock on the wall. It was noon, which meant that Chancellor Jaha and Marcus Kane would be making their way to the monitor room, expecting their morning status report.
"How are those comms coming along, Raven?" Abby asked with a tired sigh.
"Same as yesterday, doc," Raven replied, her lively charisma translating blandly as the young mechanic hated failure. "Scanning all the frequencies that I can pick up, but I'm pretty sure that dropship's radio is fried."
The bay doors of the monitor room hissed open as Jaha and Kane walked through.
"Chancellor on deck!" someone in the room shouted.
Everyone paused their activity to respect their leader as he approached Abby at her desk that was close to the hundreds of mini monitors against the wall.
"How were the last twenty-four hours, Abby?" Jaha asked, his hand gently resting on the medical gauze wrapped around his abdomen.
"Steady, like your recovery, I hope," the doctor responded nodding at his healing wounds.
"As steady as my stubbornness will allow," Jaha replied with routine humor.
Abby nodded, indicating the end of pleasantries. "I still believe that the delinquents are surviving as a mass group, as all their vitals typically synchronize during the same moments of the day. As you may remember, I started to assume that they were splitting off, as that first day resulted in a peak heart-rate from a small handful of them, including my daughter and your son."
"What do you believe is the cause of them?"
The doctor shrugged, "Perhaps our children were selected or volunteered to explore or hunt on behalf of the group. Jasper Jordan's vitals nearly flatlined in an instant, and at the same time, our children and the others in their supposed group peaked, perhaps out of fear. I want to assume that they left together, Jasper got injured somehow, and it scared the others. Since his vitals have been returning back to average levels, I believe he has recovered from whatever happened."
"And your evidence to support that the rest of the delinquents are working as a group as well?"
"A couple days ago all their vitals were increased, but almost as if through exercise. The levels they raised to do not indicate a physical reaction to any radioactive elements."
"You mean to tell me that their vitals rose, and you believe they were exercising?" Kane inquired.
"I'm not saying that, I'm saying that their vitals reached a level that's typical for some kind of physical labor, not a dangerous reaction to the atmosphere that a non-survivable planet would cause. Their vitals collectively increase, but to a healthy level." Abby phrased, trying to make herself as understandable as possible.
"Anything else to report?"
The doctor hesitated. There was something she wanted to investigate, but it was just for personal satisfaction. "Clarke's vitals. They're bizarre. After Jasper's drop, Clarke's relaxed within a few minutes of the frenzy that the rest of the small group had. I believe she may have passed out. But when her vitals began to climb again, it was almost as if in anxiety or fear. Hers lasted the longest while everyone began to relax within an hour or so. And then to top it off, I believe she is either adapting better or getting better food than the rest. Last night and this morning, her vitals were in great shape. All her levels were where they needed to be- almost as if she was healthy and back on the Ark again. I do not understand why she's doing a lot better than the others."
"That is peculiar," Jaha agreed, and Abby was relieved that the Chancellor wasn't going to assume that Clarke was hoarding better food and water, which he still might have been thinking.
"How about the communications?" Kane asked, changing the subject and looking at Raven.
"Like I told the doctor," Raven sighed, "Radio silent still. No frequencies coming from Earth. At least none that are strong enough." As she said this, she turned a dial by millimeters, it seemed, carefully scanning every frequency that could be picked up. "I think it's safe to say that Earth is okay, even if we can't get verbal confirmation."
"… Ark…" the radio hiccupped a word through the static and everyone froze.
Raven leaned closer to her radio panel and began to slowly turn the dial back and forth over the notch the dial's pointer crossed when the word came through.
"The…" the frequeny stuttered again.
"This is impossible," Raven said, but her growing smile proved more interest than disbelief. She pulled the microphone attached to her radio panel closer to her. "This is Ark Station. Please repeat your call. Over."
All the personelle in the classified room leaned closer to Raven's desk, anticipating the response.
"Ark…" The radio croaked again, "Hundred… Over."
Abby's face beamed with excitement, not needing a clearer message to figure out the truth.
"Can you clear it up?" Kane wondered.
"That's not much else I can do from up here. It's up to whoever it is on the other side to patch up their signal." Raven replied.
"Ark Station… Ark Station…"
"There we go," Raven muttered, "It's almost like he heard me." She pulled the microphone a little bit closer to her lips this time, and spoke clear, loud, and steady: "This is Raven Reyes of the Ark Station. Please state your name. Over."
The radio crackled for a few seconds before the response came through, "Monty Green. Over."
"He's on the list," Abby confirmed without even having to look at her monitors.
"It's nice to hear from you, Monty. Are you part of the hundred sent to Earth on the dropship?" Raven continued.
"Yes…" the static voice replied. "We are alive and well…"
The room let out a collective quiet celebration, before Jaha reached his hand out to order everyone to remain quiet once more.
"Monty, this is Chancellor Jaha," he said, taking the microphone from Raven. "We need you to give us a status report. Is earth survivable?"
"Yes… it's like… just like the books. It's beautiful… it's safe."
"Have you set up camp?"
"Yes. More than …camp. Settlement."
"Can you clear up your frequency? You're breaking up a bit."
"We have houses…" Monty's voice came in clearer, after seconds of radio silence. "We've built homes."
"How exactly did you do that?"
"The Grounders. They're real. They helped us."
Jaha looked around at his inner circle, each and every one of them displaying the same look of confusion.
"Monty, what do you mean?" Abby asked loudly, hoping her voice would make it to the microphone Jaha controlled.
"Clarke found them."
Abby's heart surged.
"She found these Grounders?"
"Yes. They survived the nuclear apocalypse and built societies. They attacked Jasper by mistake during a hunting trip. Clarke spoke to their leader to get him back. She secured an alliance."
"Your daughter's quite the diplomat, it seems," Jaha mentioned to Abby. "It also seems that you may have been right about Jasper being injured during a hunt." Turning back to the microphone, he asked, "Have you secured Mount Weather? Is this where you are reporting from?"
"Negative… Mount Weather is reportedly inhabited already by a group of people the Grounders call the Mountain Men. We failed to even get close to the compound."
"Monty, how did Clarke secure this alliance?" Abby asked, returning to the only part she was interested in. She loved hearing word about her daughter, especially since their devastating family rift.
"Well it depends on how you see it…" Monty's voice said vaguely. "Clarke got us an alliance by promising to stick to our grounds. This land is owned by the Grounders, and thanks to Clarke, their leader is going to let us live within a five-mile radius of our dropship. We are to not expand from here until the Grounders deem us safe."
"They believe you're a threat?" Jaha asked.
"They're being cautious. They don't know what we're capable of, but it seems they're giving us a chance at peace first. Clarke got them to accept our camp as a trading post."
"So Grounders will be constantly interacting with you, but you cannot leave the radius?"
"Correct."
"What are they like?"
"Scary to look at, at first. But they're good people. Incredibly helpful. They seem genuine. I mean, they helped us build the camp, and they're constantly visiting to trade new things. I think they're excited to see new people."
"Monty, can I speak to Clarke?" Abby asked, hopeful.
"She's not here," Monty replied, "She's off visiting the Grounders at their capitol with Bellamy."
The room grew quieter than it already was.
"So he's on Earth…" Jaha whispered, his hand subconsciously traveling to the bandaged wound on his abdomen.
"What role does Bellamy play in Clarke's trip to the Grounders?" Abby asked, trying not to let the tension ruin this first bit of communication.
"The Grounders' Commander told us to select a leader and ambassador. Clarke and Bellamy were elected, with Clarke being our leader. They're the only ones allowed to leave the camp and communicate with the Grounder Commander. They'll be back as soon as they're done meeting the other ambassadors of the twelve clans."
Kane and Jaha's face grew dim as they realized the countless numbers these Grounder communities might have, feeling more insecure about this mission to Earth.
"Monty would you say your radio is fully functional now? Can we contact you whenever?" Jaha asked.
"I believe so, but I can't say if anyone will be here to answer it at any second of the day."
"We will call you back in two hours, we must conference. Is this okay?" Jaha began.
"Yeah, sure. When will you join us on Earth, though?"
"We'll decide that in the conference. We must end our conversation now, Monty. Thank you for working so hard to communicate with us. Your effort will be rewarded."
"Thank you- I mean, you're welcome."
"Goodbye, Monty."
"Goodbye".
Clarke felt radiant. Sure she wasn't happy about having to leave Polis, but everything about the past twenty-four hours had left the woman feeling supercharged and serene. She had a full body bath, her hair was clean, her clothes were fresh, she had full hot meals made of real food and spices, she had cold fresh water- and not to forget, the red wine and kisses she enjoyed when sneaking off to say goodnight to Lexa.
Even Bellamy had seemed to behave lighter, a true smile faintly decorated his lips as he quickly learned how to communicate with his horse. He rode ahead of Clarke at an exhilarating trot, and Clarke watched contently, pleased that they could at least travel back to the camp without arguing with each other. Lexa was concerned about the two riding alone, but both Bellamy and Clarke had insisted that they learn the way to and fro themselves, especially since they were allowed to be outside the camp, if they got lost, they wouldn't be in any danger in asking for someone's help along the way.
It seemed to have taken a lot quicker to return to camp than it was to arrive, but then again Clarke remembered that they had left in the afternoon the day the departed for Polis, but today they left at dawn after an early breakfast. It had to have been at least a total of seven hours, and they had made it back to the dropship at least an hour after noontime.
They were greeted by a commotion in the camp, and the two leaders were surprised to see that the trading post had changed so much in so little time, with stalls stationed here and there with different purposes: one for water, one for clothes, one for foraging. Everything was handled ultimately in the trading post in the drop ship after being verified good to be traded.
Dismounting from their horses, courtesy of Heda Lexa, Clarke and Bellamy passed through the crowd to the dropship, where the majority of the commotion was clustered.
"What's going on?" Clarke asked curiously.
Monty was at the threshold of the dropship trying to call the crowd, and when he saw Clarke and Bellamy, he beckoned them towards him.
"I got in contact with the Ark!"
Bellamy froze in place, catching Clarke's curiosity.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"N-nothing," Bellamy said, clearing his throat as he continued to walk up the ramp with Clarke.
"What did they say?" Clarke resumed, speaking to Monty.
"Not much, actually. They were more interested in what I had to say. They're holding a conference and will get back to me in about an hour."
"We have to tell Lexa," Clarke said, immediately turning to Bellamy.
"You want to leave after we just got back?" Bellamy questioned.
"She wants to be here to represent her people, she doesn't want the Ark to make any assumptions about them," Clarke informed. "Bellamy, you must go back. I have to stay and be there for the conference and do all I can to keep the Ark and the Council from seeing the situation in the wrong light until Lexa gets here. Please."
Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows in agitation, clearly not interested in another seven hour ride, but a part of him wanted to get away from the situation at hand. If the Ark was now communicating with the dropship, eventually they would start asking for him… they knew he didn't belong with the hundred, and they would still be on the hunt for him, especially after his attempt to murder the Chancellor.
At this moment, Bellamy's riflemen rounded up by him like the loyal pack they were. Instead of greeting them, he immediately went to giving them orders, telling them to keep things in line while he would be gone for another day. Placing Murphy in charge who had just given him a fresh canteen, Bellamy gave Clarke a worrisome look before mounting on his horse again and charged out.
"He might be right to fear the Ark, you know," Murphy muttered to Clarke as they both watched him gallop away into the tree-line. "You may have your mother on the inside, but that didn't stop you from getting arrested, and it's probably not gonna stop them from re-arresting us. That's what Bellamy says is most likely going to happen."
"They sent us here with the reward of a pardon if we succeed, and we have succeeded."
Murphy scoffed in disgust, "Have we? You may have proved that Earth is inhabitable, but you've put us in the hands of someone else's power. You've basically committed treason all over again. You've lost your privilege and status, I hope you know that, princess. You're one of us now, and you'll always be."
"Have some faith," Clarke sighed.
Murphy couldn't hold back his chuckle. "I almost feel bad for you, Clarke. All that faith put into the wrong people." With that, he rolled up his jacket sleeves before shouldering his rifle once more, and headed out to join his minute militia, with the residual outline of a small Poseidon's trident faint on his arm.