Disclaimer: The characters used within this are mostly the property of others. I have a few originals, but the vast majority are not original. Everything here is fiction. This is for entertainment only and not for profit.
-=oOo=-
To Green Angel Tower - Chapter 13
-=oOo=-
The ship was big. It was easily the size of an aircraft carrier, though mostly boxy in nature with what they presumed were engines at one end. It was a dull silver color. It seemed to have no actual attempt at making it aerodynamic. It was also ice cold, based on what sensors they had. There were oval windows dotting both sides of it on three different levels.
"We can't just pass it by. We need to go look," said Fleur.
"I've tried sending radio messages, but my guess is if anyone was living on that ship, they aren't now," said Kevin.
"If anyone goes, and they can safely do so, they should apparate into space and use magic to clean the outside of their suit before apparating back here," said Ken.
"I'll go with you," said Harry.
"Why should you be the one to go?" asked Daphne annoyed.
"Two is enough, and they did bring it up first," said Ken.
Hermione and Daphne glared at Harry. They were clearly not truly angry, but they were also clearly annoyed at missing the chance to be first.
"I'm sure it won't be long till you are also there," offered Fleur.
Hermione and Daphne nodded.
-=oOo=-
Fleur and Harry suited up. Harry apparated first into what was likely someones room. Fleur appeared right after.
"The bed has bones," said Harry softly to his suits magical coms.
Fleur turned to what was left of the bed. It seemed the mattress was built of something longer lasting, but the body was still there, among the dust and there were no covers or pillows left, just dust.
"They were near our size or perhaps were our size. I think they had wings," said Fleur softly.
"Yah," agreed Harry equally softly.
There wasn't much else in the room, though there were drawers, and a mirror and one door that didn't open. They managed to get the door to the hall open by using an unlocking charm.
The other rooms nearby were all the same. They left the dearly departed alone after that. They eventually found a kitchen, the bridge and what they thought was engineering. The only place with corpses was the beds.
"They knew they were going to die. Most of the ones we checked had two people in them. They had given up," said Harry.
Awhile later they found the cargo bay or rather cargo bays. Each was usually filled with piles of different minerals. Then they came to an empty one.
"I think we can make a portal here, either with the plates we have for a quick one, or etch them here," said Fleur.
"They try daily to connect to it and accept a message from us, so that should work. I say we use the plates, and leave this ship alone. Let's talk with the others first though," said Harry.
"Alright."
They apparated off the ship and scougified their suits three times each before returning to Tempest.
Ken approved of the plan. Less than twenty four hours later they had an American and French team of witches and scientists come through with supplies. Four weeks after that they were released from helping there and given permission to continue their mission, if they wanted to.
-=oOo=-
"Do you think they will figure out how their ship works?" asked Hermione.
"They are surely going to try. I tend to think they will figure at least some of it out, though it could take a long time," said Ken.
"I wish we knew what killed them. We assume they ran out of food or air, but we really don't know other than they were not surprised," said Daphne.
They stayed a couple more days to be sure, and were just about to leave when they were contacted. Lisa, who they had worked with before from the American branch had become the head of this operation.
"You want us to move the ship to Earth?" asked Adriane in surprise.
"Is it even possible?" asked Lisa.
"No. What they do is dangerous enough, without trying to move something like that. Flatly no. We will not attempt it," said Adriane.
"Agreed," said Ken.
"Do you think we could install engines like yours then?"
"Have you checked where we are? We are nearly seventy thousand light years from Earth. The conventional engines will never get you home. The only paths I know of are this ship, that ship maybe if you can fix it and it has the capability, and the portals. That is it," said Ken.
"I find it likely that they had competent people to repair the ship there before the end. We do not. Unless it is a matter of supplying something, I'm doubtful you will be able to repair it," added Kevin.
"We think their environmental failed and they suffocated, but that is still a guess. We don't know if power failed before environmental or if that guess is correct," said Lisa.
"That seems reasonable," noted Ken.
"Could your and your teams magic make this ship more livable?" asked Lisa.
"Probably, but the more magic we use the more we are likely to damage it."
"We likely won't be able to contact you once you actually leave, will we?" asked Lisa.
"We will likely request food and supplies monthly. You could contact Earth and they could contact us then, but even if you did, it is unlikely we could turn around and get back here quickly. It could also take us a long time just to find you. I suppose we could possibly portal back to you, though it takes most of that four to establish a portal, and it may get harder. We might be able to abandon Tempest, but that is horribly risky too, since we would have to rig the portal to last long enough without support. I know Adriane has a plan to do that, but she hopes never to use it."
"I'll be frank. This job is huge, yet not a lot of people want to be this far from Earth. I know you were given orders that you could go. I'm asking you to stay, at least for awhile. I'm not asking anyone to die or risk death, but yes, if you could try to stay and try to figure out a way to get this thing back to Earth, I'd deeply appreciate it, or at least remain so we have a resource outside this thing."
Adriane turned to the others and then to Ken.
"I'm inclined to support her. Does anyone have any objections?"
"I'd like a crack at trying to figure out the systems on that ship. I may not have the formal skills, but my tech knowledge is decent," said Jacob.
Penelope smiled and nodded.
"We have already found some wire panels. We need to try to isolate something small and figure out what it runs on," said Lisa.
"If we continue to Andromeda, which we could reach, we could find something or nothing. Here we have a ship with technology we surely don't yet understand and possibly data about those who died here, if we can figure out how to read it," said Daphne.
"I think we all agree, for now at least," said Harry.
"Thanks," said Lisa.
-=oOo=-
One of the first things they did after getting the minimum established to maintain life was to bring in coffins and carefully and respectfully put each of the corpses in them. They then dedicated one of the empty cargo bays to hold them until they found a longer term solution.
-=oOo=-
Jacob smiled as he walked the large no longer empty room they had claimed for the engineering room, well their engineering room. The ship had its own, which they weren't messing with yet. This one was nice since there was a window they were able to remove, without damaging the ship, though they did need custom sockets made to remove the bolts. Their machine shop on Earth then fabricated a replacement for the window which allowed them to securely connect the exhaust of four ten thousand watt inverter generators. They also had banks of batteries that supplemented their power at peak times.
Technically this meant they were going through oxygen at a decent rate, along with diesel fuel, but thanks to magical storage, that actually wasn't a big problem. The biggest key was they had modified the generators to directly use oxygen from tanks, rather than from the room, which was a mix of oxygen,carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. By doing so they at least didn't have to replace the nitrogen continually.
Each generator had extra piping to try to extract heat from the exhaust before it was expelled. They also had put in place two inch copper pipe along the hallway ceiling, with the return pipe on the opposite side. This took heat from the generators and directed it into the ship. There were more pieces involved, but the generators were certainly performing double duty.
It didn't even take a great deal of heat to warm the place up. Space vehicles could only lose heat by radiating it. Sure you could do tricks like use heat pumps so your radiator was red hot, but it was still radiant only. It also helped that they weren't warming the whole place up, but rather a collection of a couple dozen rooms that weren't particularly near anything.
After checking over all of the generators he moved to the room on the opposite end of the set they had taken over. "Any luck?" he asked.
"The finding of what seems to be a heating pad was very useful. We took it apart and while it doesn't have recognizable circuit elements, it is still basic electrical engineering all the same. The tricky part, is, while we are fairly sure this takes DC voltage of at least a hundred volts, we think it also does a two way handshake, so if the device and the power source don't agree you don't get or accept power.
"So, basically we don't know how to mimic its handshaking protocol."
"No, we do not."
"Any progress on the main generators?"
"We know where they are. They are massive and we have no idea what principle they operate on. More importantly we found what appears to be a shuttle craft. It's engines are also dead."
"That's great," added Jacob.
"We aren't wild with taking it apart, but we think we can put it's generator back through the portal. Yes, that isn't ideal, but its not as if carrying it back on tempest exposes it to less magic. This way we can at least encapsulate it first."
"Sounds good. Got anything specifically for me?"
"There are lots of things we believe are computers, but we have to figure out how to safely turn them on."
Jacob nodded.
"They were wanting to do something better than the diesel generators for power, but it is not that easy. The portal has to be somewhat limited to safer power sources due to how much magic messes up. Solar panels are useless because of how far we are from any sun."
"Fuel cells then?" asked Jacob.
"Yes, we believe we can increase the efficiency and get rid of the need to vent."
"Seems reasonable though we are using most of the heat right now. I believe there are magical containers for hydrogen now. Shall I see about getting the required equipment ordered?" asked Jacob.
"Yes. Your goal for the next stage is to repeat what you have, but keep things federated where possible. Ideally, if we could turn on sections of say a few rooms at once, and then shut them off..."
"And the water byproduct?"
"Showers or shallow bathing, if we can make sure it is safe."
"You know we probably could get some gravity, if we are going to be here awhile. I know the Wizards and Witches have talked about adding a bit of rune work to create artificial gravity at least where people sleep."
"We probably need to gamble on that as well, but make sure it's well away from anything important."
-=oOo=-
It was three months later. They were all spending what time they could in the rooms with gravity, which was a couple on the cargo ship, as they were calling it, and one on Tempest. Tempest had also started resuming short FTL flights, just to further improve their ability to do so. They had just returned to the cargo ship when they got word. Earth had managed to power up the power core from the shuttle in the cargo ship they had shipped to earth.
The revised plan was to send back a magitech power generator that would interface with the modified original power core to fly the ship. This was the plan because it was all they could do that would fit. They had wanted to load it into Tempest, but it would not fit, not even if they abandoned the kitchen and everything else to the other ship. So now they had a pair of American mages trying to keep the generator online while their pilots tried to get the shuttle to move.
It worked. It would fly, and was quite fast honestly, but it soon became clear there were no FTL engines in the shuttle. They were now trying to build or modify a bigger ship than Tempest as fast as they reasonably could, with the primary purpose of bringing back the shuttle intact. They were looking at the soviet Antonov AN-225 Mriya, which had a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tons as the starting point. It was the biggest aircraft period. The plan was to gut it of engines, and fuel tanks and pretty much everything else not structural. It would be flown purely with magictech systems and a copy of the hardened sensors destined for another Tempest. They also wanted Harry and the others back to do its flight test program on an expedited basis.
-=oOo=-
Harry sighed as he finished his packing.
Fleur enfolded him in her arms while Hermione and Daphne hugged both of them.
"We will be back, or we will get a better one," said Fleur.
"That we will. That we will," saId Harry.
"Bet on it," added Daphne.
"Without doubt," finished Hermione.
They apparated over and used the portal the others were maintaining to return to Earth. Tempest would be used as a resource for the continued exploitation of the Cargo ship.
Their dream of Andromeda had been delayed.
-=oOo=-
"Before we begin our development work, I want to lay to rest of those people to rest. They brought in coffins for each, said prayers, but have done nothing more," said Daphne.
The others agreed.
"Where?" asked Harry.
"My family could possibly provide a place. You should check with Gringotts to see what is left of the Potter properties," said Daphne.
"Mine could as well. I'm sure we would be honored to do so," said Fleur.
"So Gringotts first?" asked Hermione.
They agreed and headed off, before someone could interrupt them.
-=oOo=-
Ragnok walked into the meeting room to the already full table.
"To answer your question, the remaining Potter properties are not extensive. They mostly consist of stakes in companies. There are certainly funds you can access, and likely live well without working, but the only real property you have that is suitable would be Potter Manor, or rather the grounds of it. The Manor was destroyed in the last war."
"I have no problem with using it. Could it be warded to keep their graves safe?"
"You do realize that it is an incredibly valuable property. The lay lines it lays on would produce a stronger set of wards than any other, save for a few families as old."
"I'm not worried about that. We make a lot of money. Let's just do this right."
"And if people want to visit?"
"Would the Goblin Nation consider organizing all of that?" asked Fleur hopefully.
"You would have us provide access to perhaps a foundational piece of Earth's history? The finding of that ship, is surely that."
"I don't understand. Do you not wish the position?" asked Harry.
"We will gladly do so. We will handle the remaining details save for bringing the coffins home."
"We have that," said Fleur.
-=oOo=-
"What do you think of their plan to create a cemetery for the aliens on Harry Potter's old property?" asked the president.
"I think we should support it. It is passed time we gave them permanent resting places, or at least permanent till we find their home world, which may be never. We should offer some discrete help to the British to make sure the site remains secure."
"So what actions should we take?"
"Get it done, with all resources necessary to make sure it is done right. Make sure to record what can be recorded appropriately. We will probably have to release that someday."
"Agreed."
-=oOo=-
World leaders in the know of both the magical and muggle world were here at the former Potter estate. Heads of religion in the know where as well. The ceremonies both muggle and religions were touching as they were lengthy.
Perhaps most notable were the picture they found. It was created with some form of charcoal, indicating that these people still valued simple art. The woman, no, the angel portrayed was truly beautiful.
Harry was given the last chance to speak at the ceremony.
"Thank you all for coming. We sensed the ship containing these people just barely in time, and even then we didn't know what we were sensing. I do hope to one day meet their people, but for now I wish for us to do our part to protect this place. All who remain will be able to return here and pay their respects. Any who do not wish to be included may leave. Any others must request access through the Goblin nation after today. Fleur," said Harry.
"In honor of the feathered nature of those that have been laid to rest here, Harry asked me to lead the ward lighting. Harry."
Harry touched the ground and a massive glowing crystal nearly six foot tall and three foot wide rose into the clearing. The magic it was giving off was almost painful to be in the presence of. They gathered around it. Fleur spoke again.
"We will now begin."
The four joined hands. Fleur's magic was the first to interact with the great ward crystal that Gringott's created to replace the shattered Potter one. Magic exploded outward, yet caused no harm as every particle in the former Potter estate became saturated with purpose, including the guests, though it would fade from them in time.
The four were at it for the better part of an hour before they sank to their knees and stopped, their job complete.
-=oOo=-
Across the endless gulf of space a people scattered among many worlds felt it and suddenly they knew, not the whole, but parts of what had happened that day, and even where.
Their main leadership body was quickly assembled. A very lovely woman, just a bit older than the sketch used in the funeral stood at the front of the room.
"Report please."
"We do not understand it. We believe an alien species found our long missing ship and buried its dead honorably. We felt the power of those that did so. One gave his own home to this duty."
"Can we recover our dead, and maybe our ship?"
"The planet in question is three months of hyperspace travel in our fastest scout ships. We do not know the location of our ship."
"Assemble a team. Recover our honored dead, and if possible our ship."
"And if they have taken over our ship?"
"Use your own discretion. The technology in that ship has no special value, It is over a thousand years old, and had only an experimental hyperdrive. Make every effort to make peaceful contact."
"Understood."
-=oOo=-
Luna looked up and smiled. All was as it should be.
-=oOo=-
Their work site was moved to the United States. Russia also volunteered. America and France passed. America could provide a hanger big enough to house the massive aircraft. Once it got there a mixed team of Russian and American workers began to strip it of everything they needed gone.
It was another month after they started that work before they had the magical arrays even figured out for such a massive craft, though in fairness a lot of that depended on the final configuration, which was as yet uncertain.
Three weeks later they had the magical arrays laid in and powered, as well as all the magical sensor array adapted for the system. In short, they could fly. The shielded electronics needed considerable more work to adapt to the much bigger bird.
"Cargo 1, you are now clear for departure. You don't have but half the runway that plane used to need, but you should be fine," said Ken.
"Confirmed control. Levitating ship and retracting landing gears," said Daphne.
"I confirm landing gears are retracted. Go when ready. The route is clear."
Daphne leaned into the magical gestalt as the humongous plane started to move.
"You really notice this one," she added quietly.
"We don't plan to keep it, so it should be fine," added Fleur.
"Can't wait to get rid of it. Accelerating,"added Harry.
"You are above the speed of your launch profile."
"V1 is passed."
"Cheeky."
"Rotating and heading into the sky."
The massive plane took off and rapidly accelerated into the sky. Somehow the press had gotten wind and it was being carried on a lot of stations via a long range lens.
-=oOo=-
"We still don't know how they fly without engines, but boy is that bird fast, particularly for it's size," said the reporter.
"It's heading to space, I think..."
"Nope, it leveled off. It's a test flight I think."
Several F22 Raptors appeared on screen behind it.
"How are we seeing this?"
"Some private jet is filming and uploading to youtube."
"The jets are accelerating."
"So is the AN-225."
There suddenly was a large bang heard on the radio as the super cargo ship broke the sound barrier.
The Raptors accelerated after and kept up. It was, unfortunately, clear the craft filming could not keep up as they vanished off the screen.
"I wonder what they needed the big cargo ship for?"
"Good question."
-=oOo=-
They did two major flight tests per day. After each tests were run on the airplane to verify that no damage was incurred.
A month later they were done with their very rushed flight test program and loaded up to attempt the return trip, after having done several smaller FTL events. They were almost to the point of starting when they got a message.
"Cargo one. We are detecting an alien craft on the other side of the planet."
"Really?" asked Harry in surprise.
"Really."
"What should we do?"
"Maybe go say hello?"
Fleur did a point me and Harry adjusted his course to circumnavigate the planet's orbit.
They spent twenty minutes getting there before staring at it.
"It's them. It has to be," said Daphne softly and with a touch of reverence.
"Maybe," agreed Fleur.
"I'm opening a basic amplitude modulation connection in the hopes they can figure that out. Hello out there. Welcome to Earth," added Hermione.
"Their ship is quite beautiful. It looks a bit like a hawk in flight," said Fleur.
Suddenly they heard an almost musical language back. None of them had a clue as to what it meant.
"I'm sorry, but we do not know your language," said Hermione.
"Learning," was heard in heavily accented words.
Ten seconds later they added, "Wait."
"Alright," responded Hermione.
It took them another hour of tense waiting before they heard, "We have studied some of your communications. Our computer seems to have figured this one out, but there may be errors. Do you understand?"
"We do," said Hermione.
"We would like the return of our honored dead."
"Of course. There are considerable protections around the area, but we will work with you to see that it is done."
"What happened to the ship?"
"We encountered it when we set out to explore another galaxy. Our people are studying it now to try to figure out how it works. We did our best to treat your honored dead with respect and make sure they had a place here."
"Certain things will be dangerous. It does not appear you know enough to do so safely. We do not understand how you could visit another galaxy."
"Your welcome to come over to talk about it, at least if it is safe to do so. We aren't actually medics, though we do have some skill at healing."
"It would be better if you came here, but we do not see a way to dock. Perhaps we should land first?"
"If you followed us down, then perhaps we could take your ship to closer to where your people are? I don't think it is big enough though," said Hermione.
"We will follow you down."
"I've cut the connection. Head down, but take your time a bit. I want to confirm there will be no stupid in this encounter," said Ken.
"Got it," said Harry as he started back the way they had came and then started to ease his way through the atmosphere in a way this plane should not be able to do.
They landed back at the hanger they took off from barely an hour after they started. The alien craft landed right after in a far more agile manner.
Harry and the others walked out and towards the other craft while others secured their cargo ship and brought it back inside.
Fleur was the first to the other craft, though Harry, Hermione, and Daphne were only a step behind. They were perhaps a hundred feet away when the alien walked and. She was beautiful. She seemed nothing less than an angel with her golden hair, blue green eyes, and light golden wings.
Fleur and the others finished walking forward. She held out her hand in greeting. Her counterpart cautiously shook it.
The angel spoke in the musical language.
A small device on the angel's arm translated, "It is good to meet new people. I hope we will be friends."
"I hope so too. What would you like to do first?"
"We would like to recover our honored dead."
"Of course. We can take a different craft there, or come with you, or you can come with us. The one we were on is unsuitable."
"How does your craft fly?" asked the translated voice after a bit more musical language.
Fleur laughed. "That is quite complicated, but simply put, there is a small portion of our population that can manipulate energy in different ways. We do that."
"Will this other ship use this method?"
"If you like."
"We will take your ship," said the eager angel.
"Alright. One of our all magic prototypes is here."
"Please open the hanger. We are taking the magical jet," said Ken.
People rushed to do so, as a smaller hanger in an adjacent building opened. Several more angels got out, and followed them into it. It was actually a bit of a tight fit, but they all managed to board. The angels had to stand, because the chairs were not made with them in mind.
"Fleur, would you do us the honor?" asked Harry.
Fleur nodded as she sat at the pilot station while the others subtly streamed energy into the magical array. From in front of them she saw a tech give them the clear for take off. She gently eased it into the air.
"You need not be so slow."
"Are you sure? Can you hold onto something or someone?" Their wings looked quite delicate. The silver clothing they wore seemed solid enough.
"We will be fine."
"Alright."
Fleur punched it as they all rapidly braced themselves. Before they knew it they were climbing into the sky.
"Climb into space or near there. We can get to where we are going faster that way," said Ken.
"Got it."
"There is no power, yet there are controls and lights. We do not understand."
"That's what we call magic," said Daphne in amusement.
"We should contact the Goblins. We gave them the honor of caring for this place. We should not bypass them," said Fleur.
"Agreed," said Harry. He pulled out his wand, quickly creating a unicorn patronus who dashed away.
"How very interesting."
-=oOo=-
When they approached the former Potter estate they could see several dozen Goblins were already there, dressed in their best formal clothing, along with King Ragnok himself. Ragnok pointed to a field not far away. Fleur quickly moved over to it and they gently touched down.
As they got out of the craft you could see the long rows of headstones.
"What is this?" she asked pointing to the image on the marble headstones.
"We found a charcoal sketch somewhere on the ship. It was all we had to use, so we put it on each of the headstones," said Daphne.
"She was my ancestor, so very long ago. How curious. We will need equipment and a bigger ship to return all of these."
"The plane we just modified could possibly do it, but we are not sure it would be suitable for such a lengthy journey," offered Ken.
"That is impossible, isn't it?"
"Faster than light travel is not easy for us, but we do know how to do it," added Ken.
"I wish to see this."
"There is another copy of the Tempest due for delivery. We could load supplies and a small number of the coffins and go," offered Ken.
"Yes please. How long will it take to reach, I believe you call it Andromeda?"
"Thirty or forty days, maybe. We never did fully validate going that far," admitted Ken.
"If you help us with this, we will help make sure you are safe with your work on our old ship."
"We would have done it anyway," admitted Harry.
"We agree," said Ken.
-=oOo=-
They loaded up twenty in Tempest and thirty four in their ship. Their three newest friends, who were apparently called Kes, Seana, and Miley came with them. Their names weren't quite that simple, but that is how they thought of it.
Fleur again was thrilled to be in the pilot seat as they were about to enter FTL.
"Everything is clear," said Ken.
"I do not understand why our radio must be in this box."
"Our magic tends to destroy electronics. That protects it," said Hermione.
"If you say so."
They focused as one as Fleur took them into FTL pointed directly at the Andromeda galaxy.
"How did you enter hyperspace with no engines? This is very strange."
"We only go for about forty minutes at a time, since that seems safe."
"It is not. You have no sensors. Please exit hyperspace. Our ship will catch up and then verify the course is safe."
The ship slipped out of hyperspace. Kes opened the box and then powered on the small cube like transmitter. Several long conversations were heard in the musical language before she sighed and finished the conversation.
"They will catch up in one of your hours. You overshot them. This will take some time, since they must fly the course well ahead, and then move well out of the way and then we much catch up."
"Is there any chance you could tell us anything about how to check if what is in front of us is safe?" asked Ken.
"We sensed your ship, but barely. It was without much time to spare," said Hermione.
"You make no sense. You do the impossible with crude things. I am not complaining but it is incredibly strange."
Harry chuckled. "That's us. Would you like to see if any of our food is palatable? We had a kitchen, but there wasn't space to put one on here."
"Nonsense. You shall dine as honored guests on our ship."
"Sure."
"How will they get there?" asked Seana, her arm device also translating.
"We can move from one ship to the other magically. We tend to put on space suits before trying, but we can do it," admitted Harry.
"It is not very pleasant, but it works," added Ken.
-=oOo=-
They took them up on the offer, though Miley had words when they touched feet on the alien craft.
"That was the most horrible way to travel I've ever experienced."
Hermione just started laughing.
"You should see me with some of our other ways of travel. I end up splatted on the ground," muttered Harry.
All three broke out laughing. A bit latter it trailed off then Daphne added, "Apparition does have a small chance of leaving some part of a person behind, so if you do ever notice anything just let us know and we can usually repair it. I assure you we all do know what we are doing."
"You tell us that now," said Miley.
"More laughter."
Harry's stomach grumbled. "Food was mentioned?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes it was. Come on, I think you will like it."
It turned out that they were vegetarian for the most part. It was a very impressive salad.
-=oOo=-
They worked together and ended up taking the better part of two months to reach their home world. They spent a month there learning about each other before the topic of the old ship came up again.
"We promised to help you with that. Miley here has volunteered, but we should probably get going sometime soon," said Kes.
"We can establish a portal, now that we are here, that will reach back either to the ship, or to Earth. Well, we think we can. We have not tried this far," admitted Adriane.
"Truly?"
They nodded.
"What do you require?"
"We have computers on tempest. If we create designs, can you fabricate them?"
"Easily done."
"Then an area probably away from any of your technology would be best. Ideally we want a large spherical room surrounded on all sides by a uniform mineral like granite," said Adriane.
"That will take awhile to make."
"We can help."
"Alright. I shall have to first requisition such a place."
"I'd like to suggest we connect to Earth, possibly to our primary location. From there there are ways back to the cargo ship at other locations," said Ken.
"Makes sense, though this whole thing seems incredible. Perhaps we could use it for the coffins. Wait, we couldn't do it before, I'm guessing, because you were not here."
Adriane nodded. "We also didn't know if such would be something you could accept."
"Why would we not? You are not harming them are you?"
"No, though electronics could be damaged in the transit, and we probably should test, possibly using a temporary set from one part of your planet to another. That way we can be sure that no harm comes to anyone, or at the worst case it is only one, and we can fix it quickly."
"Agreed. I shall volunteer."
"We can send animals first," another said.
"Agreed," added Adriane.
-=oOo=-
The tests went well, save for damaging the devices they wore on their arms.
On the night before they were to test opening a portal back to Earth, Daphne asked Kes if she could stop by their quarters.
"Is there a problem?" Kes asked.
"No, we just thought that perhaps it was time to give you a more clear view of Earth history. There are a lot of good people there, and a fair amount of not so good people," said Fleur softly.
"We know. We have had another ship monitoring your world in secret for about a month now."
"Many would have done the same, if we had the ability to do so," admitted Harry.
"What we are most curious about is why your world knows essentially nothing about those like you."
"We certainly don't mind telling our story," added Hermione.
"Please do, but tomorrow please. I wish the others to be there."
"Then we delay the opening?" asked Fleur.
"Yes. That is not a problem is it?"
"No."
"There is a personal thing I would ask. I would ask that you not make a decision on it for a time," said Kes.
"What is it?" asked Fluer.
"We do not have magic. There are those of us who are interested in perhaps seeing if we could learn it, or perhaps have children who know it."
"Can our species even have children together?" asked Hermione curiously.
"Normally no. The parts are basically the same, but the attempt would be unwise. Recreation type things are certainly possible, with certain precautions, but procreation, if it happened would require the help of our best scientists."
Harry blushed furiously. Fleur kissed him softly on the cheek. Then not to be outdone Hermione and Daphne kissed his other cheek, before Hermione slipped around to kiss Fleur on the lips briefly.
"Do your kind frequently have more than two in a relationship?" she asked curiously.
"No. Officially we are not official, but we don't care," said Daphne.
"I see."
"If you are asking if we would consider it, well, I think our relationship is complicated enough. If you are wondering if there might be someone who would, then certainly, it is possible, but I urge you to be very careful," said Daphne.
"Of course. It would likely take years of study. We would, however greatly appreciate a small sample of your life code, so we could study it."
"We will consider your request," said Daphne.
"Please do not misunderstand. That alone is a very large ask. Most here would say no to such a request. We shall take no offense if you do so."
"Would you like to learn a bit more about our world? We are normally very sensitive about families and such. Our group is a bit of a heresy in itself, as we ended up sharing our magic with each other freely," said Fleur.
"You are determined that I should get no sleep tonight," said Kes a touch petulantly.
"We could wait," started Hermione.
"I wish to know. Please tell me your story."
They did. They never did make it to their expected morning meeting and did not see others till the afternoon. When it finally arrived, they spent more time talking about their people, and in total spent another week talking about the magical world.
Privately the four talked to Penny and mentioned their ask. She had no interest, but she appreciated being asked.
Then the day came when the others would go back. The four would stay to maintain the ability to create portals. On the way out of their hotel, Harry and the others caught Penelope, Bill, and Adriane's attention and asked to speak with them.
They listened to their words about what they wanted. Penelope had already heard it.
"I might consider it, if I met someone I truly liked, maybe," hesitated Adriane.
"I already passed, at least for now," said Penelope.
Harry turned to Bill and handed him a letter. "I'm not sure who to give this to, or not. It's just a letter from me to Luna Lovegood. I don't know why, but every time I though of someone who might appreciate such an offer I thought of her."
"I know Luna as well. Not well, but I know her," said Penelope.
"We figured she might like to meet these people. I didn't mention their offer. I couldn't put that in a letter. I was hoping," trailed off Harry.
"Penelope and I will visit her. I think she may do well here," said Bill.
"Thanks. Luna was a friend I never thought I deserved at times. So many have been unkind to her," said Harry.
"I know. I've seen Ron do similar. We will make sure she is well informed."
"Thanks."