Distant Origins: An Anki Legacies Science Fantasy for Young Adults

It's nice looking back on my first alien encounter. My husband and I were near the cusp between youth and adulthood. If I were a human girl, I suppose I would have been a tween. Enough about me for now; I'm here to tell you about humanity's first contact with other sentient species, their first colony off Earth, and about nine distinct species forming a new society amid the ruins of an ancient race; a race I am a part of. What parts of the story I don't personally recollect, I had the privilege of experiencing telepathically from the others.

No, I didn't pry, my fellow colonists gladly shared their point of view for the sake of preserving the history of humanity's Distant Origins.

"Over there, " Javier Mendez reached over the pilot's shoulder to point out her viewport to a sparse bit of brush a couple miles off from what appeared to be a farm. The man, in his late fifties, would once have considered himself a Mexican American. Now, he supposed they were all just human, especially since the beings who inhabited that farm certainly were not human.

"I'll bring it in so that the shrubs conceal the ship, while you guys poke around." Christa Lindoff smiled up at Javier, who had been like a father to her in the years since she lost her own parents in a shuttle crash while mining in an asteroid belt. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she masterfully guided the small spacecraft to its destination. She tucked a strand of golden blonde hair back behind an ear on her heart shaped face.

"I've got to get a look at the biological life around that settlement, " said a gruff, yet good natured voice. It belonged to the scouting party's biologist Dr. Elroy Lancett. He smiled from beneath a thick red beard, accentuated by his bald forehead and close cropped hair above his ears and neck. A burly athletic frame hinted at the scientist's second passion, Jui Jitsu. "Javier and Simon, you two come with me. We'll do a bit of poking around."

Javier nodded his agreement and made a quick inventory of his field pack. He kept the pack in much the same condition as he had back on Earth, as a youth fighting in the American wars against Iraq and later the terrorists in Afghanistan.

Simon Urlitz, nodded a head of close cropped, sandy blonde hair. He placed an unwanted pair of hands on Christa's shoulders and peered past her through the brush outside the shuttle. Simon felt her cringe under his touch. She'll warm up to me, he thought, before standing upright and reaching into the gun locker. He holstered his Colonial Security Force pistol and checked for extra clips on a belt before clasping it around his waist. The short, thickly built man scowled unconsciously at the thought of dealing with strange primitive farmers.

"You know Dr. Lancet, it's not too late to set this shuttle down just outside that city we saw from orbit. I don't see why we chose to make first contact with some back water hayseeds. We ought to confront their leaders, " Simon said. He pulled his CSF coat on and scowled.

"Okay Simon, we know you are ready for some action after spending the last couple decades on the beat in our little colony, but leadership wants us to approach these beings with caution." Dr. Lancett put an arm around the man, an attempt to placate. The security officer looked ready for a fight.

The rear hatch of the shuttle opened. Simon, Javier, and Dr. Lancett all gasped in awe. Javier enhaled the first breath of natural air drawn since their mothership, the LARC1 colony had departed Earth twenty five years ago. He shielded his face as his eyes adjusted to the bright natural light. Dr. Lancett's attention immediately drew to the shrubs surrounding their shuttle. Javier commented about the expert landing Christa had achieved. They would likely need to tramp through the brush to gain access to the wilderness beyond. The locals would not spot the craft from ground level.

As the three men began to negotiate the brush, another pair of figures emerged on the ramp and drew in the fresh air.

"Simon! Keep your communicator handy. Shelly and I are going straight to the farm. We are going to attempt communication with the natives." The man, also garbed in Colonial Security Force attire and pistol, called out. He stood a head taller than Simon, and where the brash officer looked thickly built and olive skinned, Travis Dershell looked fair skinned with black hair. His lean frame revealed a swimmers build.

Simon grunted an affirmative reply before the trio disappeared in the brush.

"Well, looks like we get the honor of first contact, " said Shelly Crispin, the mission's linguist. A slight woman with brown bangs over black rimmed glasses.

"I'm excited to be here with you." Travis grinned. He had called out every favor owed to him in order to arrange his assignment as security on this mission. Smart girls weren't usually his type, but ever since his chance meeting with Shelly last month, Travis became smitten.

"Great! Imagine being the first humans to speak to sentient life." Shelly felt inwardly more excited over the possibility of learning a new language, than of the encounter with the being that used it.

Shelly and Travis made their way through the brush and began the trek to the farm house they had seen during their approach. Travis made a few attempts at small talk, but Shelly, fixated upon the assignment, gave only short responses. When they reached the settlement both paused before a pen of grazing animals that could have been a wild boar's larger cousin.

The house, barn, shed, pens, and silo formed a courtyard configuration. The central enclosure smelled of hay, manure, and occasionally a fresh breeze. Cart tracks, animal prints, and boot prints bore the evidence of traffic in the muddy terrain.

"Look here, " Travis pointed to the ground. "These boot prints look nearly human, except they seem to be trailed by something obscuring the centerline."

"A tail."

"That's a good guess."

Just then Travis felt Shelly's tug on his sleeve and his gaze tracked up. Before him, two golden Pneuma children flitted about, engaged in play. Our arms and legs were short, while our necks and tails gave us a serpentine look. Our heads dove about as we chased one another, diamond shaped with glassy black eyes and a dart lined mouth. As we moved, Travis saw that our tails did most of the work balancing. Rough woven tunics and breeches covered our frames in drab, faded blues, yellows, and reds. Elsaap and I were so wrapped up in play, we didn't notice the strange pink, hairy, short necked, tail-less visitors.

The sound of metal scraping into dirt broke their concentration. Shelly gasped in surprise. She and Travis spun about and stood face to face with a pair of steely blue figures. Aside from their difference in skin color, these two were nearly twice the height of the golden pair. Overalls atop faded tunics garbed both farmhands. One held a pitchfork and the other a spade. The creature with the spade slashed its tail back and forth like a cat who had cornered an injured bird.

"Hello, " Shelly said with a smile. She extended both hands, palms facing the pair, fingers splayed. "We have come from another world. Can you understand me?"

One creature darted its wedge shaped head to within inches of Shelly's face, stared through beady eyes for a solid minute, and withdrew. A moment later the pair turned heads toward one another and began speaking in a low hiss.

Shelly leaned in and focused upon the conversation. Her mind running through every language pattern she knew, then cataloguing the sounds and body language to memory. As the creatures continued their conversation, Shelly began to have an odd moment of recognition.

"Sumerian."

"What?" Travis cocked an eyebrow. "Are you able to understand them?"

"I think that Sumerian could be used as a root tongue to what they are speaking. Like Latin is to Spanish. I just can't believe it. The likelihood of discovering a species with spoken communication is small, an anatomical improbability. The fact that I could likely communicate basic ideas today would be impossible if there weren't some shared ancestry between us."

"Atlantis came from somewhere, " Travis replied. The fabled lost city of Atlantis had indeed been discovered by humanity nearly fifty years ago. It proved more than the sunken ruins of an advanced civilization, it had once been a colonial starship. The world's corporations and governments pooled resources to form the League of Atlantis Reborn Colonies or LARC. They reverse engineered the technologies Atlantis revealed to create the LARC1 colonial starship that Shelly, Travis, Christa, Javier, Simon, and Dr. Lancett had lived on for the past twenty five years en route.

"I'm going to try speaking with them." Shelly waved a hand to gain their attention, and in Sumerian said, "We have traveled for years through the stars to meet you."

The pair recoiled and the creature holding the pitchfork let out a low hiss. Their heads nearly entwined around one another and they whispered feverishly for a moment. One creature dropped its spade, bent its chest nearly parallel to the ground and dashed away from the farm. As it ran, its tail wove from side to side providing counterbalance.

"Welcome travelers, " the remaining creature said in Sumerian. "What purpose do you have to bring such an honor to our humble farm?"

Travis had a creeping suspicion about the runner. He ran a hand through his black hair as he thought. It ran away from the farm. Shelly had begun a conversation with the remaining creature, one which sounded like total jibberish to the CSF officer. His gaze wandered back toward the two golden adolescents. Our play had drawn us close enough to take notice of the visitors and we tried to spy upon our elder and Shelly's conversation.

******

Meanwhile, in the wilderness outside the farm, three of the human explorers taught themselves how to hunt. I'm glad Travis was with Shelly instead of Simon or this story might not have happened.

"Shhh..." Javier motioned for Dr. Lancett and Simon to crouch. "Do you see that?" He pointed at a small group of furry creatures whose bodies coiled about tree branches. They were nothing but tail from the belly down, which twined nicely around branches and allowed their long thin arms to pick at fruit and leaves. There were at least a dozen in the tree closest the men.

"Let's catch one, " Dr. Lancett urged. "I would love to study these things back at the lab."

Simon pointed to a clip of tranquilizer darts on his gun belt and cocked an eyebrow.

"No need, " Javier said. "Let's try this first." The man, who had spent his years on Earth after military service as an animal tracker and wilderness survival expert produced a large canvas bag and quietly gathered fruit into it. Then he crept closer to the animals and tied two corners so it made a little cave. He returned to Simon and Lancett and the three waited for five minutes until curiosity won out over caution and several creatures entered the bag. Javier leapt upon the open end of the bag and cinched it closed.

"Excellent work Javier!" Dr. Lancett beamed.

"Shhh..." Simon cocked an ear up and listened.

Then all three men heard voices. Strange hissing words, not the American English spoken among the LARC colonists, something the men had never heard before. A second later a pair of eel-like beings on short limbs entered the far side of the clearing carrying long poles with small rope loops at their end. The steel blue skinned beings spotted the three men and froze in place.

Javier advanced slowly with the bag held out in front of him. The animals inside chittered and moved about, giving the bag a lumpy swing. One of the creatures took nervous steps forward to meet Javier and peeked inside before cracking what Javier thought to be a smile.

Dr. Lancett approached with his slate in hand. He smiled at the pair of hunters while his device took a bioscan. The curious creature turned away from the bag and looked at the slate's display. Its black eyes shifted from the slate to Dr. Lancett's thick red beard and back a half dozen times. Then its face darted forth on its serpentine neck until only inches from Dr. Lancett's face. Slowly a hand extended to meet and then pass its diamond shaped blue head, then gently grasped hair on the biologist's chin.

Lancett's curious smiled burst into a chuckle. It startled his observer at first, then it hissed out what Lancett thought to be a breathy giggle. A beep on the slate drew everyone's attention.

"Not only do our little friends show immunity to our pathogens, they appear to be completely disease free, " Dr. Lancett said.

"Great, no space plague from these backwater peasants." Simon laughed at his own joke.

******

Elsaap and I wondered where these strange people came from. After studying Earth history in the colony and learning of evolution, I was surprised to learn that humans only figured out they were related to primates within the last three hundred years. One look at these people and I could tell there was something in common. On a side note, Elsaap and I were shocked to learn that eels had never attained sentience on Earth. Clearly the species had gone further on Haran, producing the Pneuma. I digress...

"Well look what the cat dragged in, " Travis grinned.

"I came bearing gifts, " Javier replied. He nodded his head at the squirming bag. The long necked hunter took his bundle to a back room and motioned for Dr. Lancet, Simon, and Javier to remain where they stood.

"Are there more like you around here?" asked the being Shelly had been practicing Sumerian with. Its tilted head bobbed and pointed at each human as if taking a tally.

Shelly turned and addressed her party. "They call their kind Pneuma. A king rules the entire population from a half day's walk away. My new acquaintance Vrilech asked if there were any more humans nearby."

"Don't mention Christa or the shuttle, " Javier cautioned.

"I don't trust these eel men, " Simon said through a scowl. "Where did that other guy run off to earlier? I didn't see him around the farm when we got here."

"Vrilech mentioned that we need to stay here and share a meal. It should be ready soon."

The men paced about the room, which appeared to be a dining hall large enough to seat twenty. Over the course of an hour, eight Pneuma adults, Elsaap, and I joined Vrilech and the humans. Shelly spoke the entire time, pausing only to jot notes hastily on her slate. The device fascinated the Pneuma, and Dr. Lancett taught Elsaap and me how to play a few of the games on his own slate.

When the Pneuma hosts laid out the meal, Dr. Lancett asked Shelly to excuse him to their hosts and scanned the meal with his slate. "Alright people, these dishes are fit for human consumption. I suggest we return to the colony on full bellies. I don't know about you guys, but I smell a roast and can't recall the last time meat was on the table!"

The group tucked in without a second thought. As they ate, the natural light outside took on the faint bright glow of twilight. The dusky star began to set below the horizon on the world called Haran. Simple nods followed attempts by the humans to offer their compliments and appreciation for the meal.

As the scouting party finished their final bites, the farm hand and the hunter, who had run off at first sight of the humans, burst into the hall. They heaved in ragged breaths and began hurriedly discussing something with the Pneuma diners in breathy whispers.

"Can you make out any of that?" Javier whispered to Shelly.

"King's men... outsiders...stars..." Shelly considered it. "I think these two ran to the city to bring representatives from the government."

"I need everyone to calmly stand up and we'll stand together over there, " Simon nodded his head toward an empty space near a side door.

As the group converged around the spot, the entry doors burst wide open and a dozen guards armed in plate metal and chain mail filed in, barring exit. The farm Pneuma all slowly rose and bowed their heads toward the soldiers. They lined the wall opposite the humans, save for Elsaap and I, who stole away out the side door behind the humans.

"You outsiders have contaminated this farm with your presence, " hissed the guard at the head of their formation. The golden cords around one shoulder indicated his leadership.

"We have come to explore, from another world, that circles another star, " Shelly said. She walked toward the guard with her hands outstretched. "We seek only friendship and would like to discuss sharing your world."

The Pneuma captain blurred into movement as Shelly reached striking distance. White spots burst in her vision along with a dull thud. A second thud alerted Shelly that she lay on the floor with the Pneuma's foot on her belly. She choked back a cry mixed with pain and astonishment.

When Simon saw the lead Pneuma spin about and strike Shelly with its powerful tail his hand bolted to his holster without thought. Three shots rang out in quick succession, the first grazed the Pneuma captain's forehead, the next two buried into his chest through his armor. Blood spattered on Shelly as the creature fell back into its comrades.

Of all the mistakes I later saw Simon make, I've concluded that this was not among them. These soldiers were the King's death squad. The rash man's actions ended up saving my life and the lives of all the humans in that group.

Shelly watched, frozen to her spot on the floor, as a Pneuma guard lunged forward and fire burst from his mouth in a thin stream, searing the flesh of Simon's leg. He jumped at the attacker and the two tumbled out into the courtyard.

Travis jumped over Shelly and kicked into the chest of an advancing guard. The guard fell back into his mates, even as they recovered from their captain's impact. A spear lunged at Travis from his side, tearing his coat and slashing his arm beneath.

Dr. Lancett spent his early morning hours training in the art of Jui Jitsu and a fighter's instinct surged as he began to disarm and grapple the guard who had slashed Travis. The spear clattered to the wood planks, now spotted with human and Pneuma blood. Dr. Lancett's burly arm cinched around the guard's long neck. He struggled and clawed desperately but the expertly executed standing guillotine starved the guard of blood flow to the brain in moments. Dr. Lancett released his hold and pushed the limp form into a corner. Relief washed over him when the unconscious man drew a breath. He felt thankful the sleeper hold had the same effect on this species as it did on humans. Without hesitation, Dr. Lancett leapt upon another Pneuma guard and snaked a powerful arm around his neck.

Javier froze only an instant after Simon's counter strike, but that caused him to be the last man into action. Shelly looked well shielded with Travis and Lancett pushing the guards back. Simon had rolled right out the front door, tangled with a guard and three more surged out after them. Javier's combat training emerged from the depths of his subconscious and instinct drove him to protect the rash officer. He ran for the door, scooped up a spear without breaking stride, and swept the legs out from under a guard just before the Pneuma had time to stab Simon through the back.

Shelly slowly attempted to gain her feet. She felt my small hands on her arms and looked into Elsaap's small golden face, which wore an anxious expression. She saw her four team mates tangled into combat. She could not help in a fight, her strength lay in communication. Perhaps talking to us could provide a nonviolent solution. She let us guide her out a side door.

In a shed on the outskirts of the farm Shelly, Elsaap, and I huddled in shadow. While the look of the Pneuma lacked the familiarity of human features, Shelly noted through observation of our body language that we looked frightened.

"Why have the guards come? Why did they strike me?"

"King stops change... star-men bring change... change can...Pneuma...Anki..."

Shelly pushed her glasses back up her nose and her brows scrunched under her brown bangs. Not entirely absorbing the explanation for the conflict, she had deduced that this culture did not welcome new ideas or new visitors. She no longer sought understanding, Shelly and the team needed to get away from the guards and off the surface of the planet.

******

Travis Dershell impressed me from the moment the fighting started. Years before I thought of him as an adopted father, he would do anything to protect us.

Travis had respite enough between felling one guard and opposing the next to see Shelly Elsaap, and I escape the house and dash to a shed on the far side of the compound. He, Lancet, Simon, and Javier where now standing with their backs to one another in the courtyard, fending off the remaining guards and a few brave farmhands who joined the skirmish.

"You guys create a distraction, I'll get Shelly and bring her back to the shuttle."

Simon nodded quickly before jumping to the side of a small lightning bolt, screamed from the angry maw of a farmhand. Dr. Lancett caught the guard unaware with a hook punch that crumpled him to the dirt. The Pneuma who escorted the trio to the farm hunkered down, then sprung at Javier, his tail acting as a coil to propel him right at the man's torso. They collided and tumbled in the dirt, Dr. Lancett joined the scuffle.

Travis chose that moment to break for our hideout. With a running start, he jumped, pumped his knee forward like a lance, connecting to the chest of a guard, and broke into a running stride. A dozen strides past a steely blue face appeared from between buildings, and as Travis spared a fleeting glance, the creature screamed fully into his face. Not a bolt of flame or electricity, but a sonic wail burst forth so intense that Travis's ears popped and all the chaotic sounds instantly disappeared. The battering of a tail, crushing into his ribs, jogged his senses. A couple quick jabs dropped his assailant and Travis staggered into the shed.

******

Simon cast glances around the barn yard for a distraction. Herd beasts that resembled boars, the size of a Hippopotamus, cowered in their pen. The excitement already had the animals rattled. "Doc, Javier, I need you guys to open the pen gate and then we'll blend with the herd."

"Stampede?" Javier looked puzzled. "How will that help Travis and Shelly?"

"We drive these pigs the other way, through them." Simon pointed a menacing finger at the stunned, knocked out, and injured Pneuma, a few of whom were already approaching the trio. Without another word Simon hopped over the pen and muscled his way to its rear.

Lancett narrowly dodged a spear thrust, taking the opportunity to close with his attacker. His martial art made him most effective when no space stood between him and his opponent. With only a grab and the rotation of his hip, Lancett whirled the Pneuma off its feet and slammed it onto the ground. Javier fended off two others, creating a space by swinging one of their spears wildly about. Lancett used the opportunity to open the pen wide before rejoining the skirmish.

Simon scooped up a pitchfork from the pen's adjoined barn and prodded the hide of a nearby boar. The animal squealed and bumped tusks into the hide of the animal in front of it. After a dozen hasty jabs and some screamed profanity Simon raced to trail the stampede. Javier and Dr. Lancett fell into step next to the man and the trio blended with the chaos that trampled over their attackers and fled into the fields beyond the compound.

******

Travis spotted three figures in the shadows and another surge of adrenaline pumped through his veins. He closed the distance and growled as he balled two fists and prepared to attack. Travis lunged into the shadowy shed and saw that small golden forms of Elsaap and I cowered next to Shelly, looking scared. Travis watched Shelly's lips curl into a smile and a wave of relief wash over her face.

"She's happy to see me, " he thought. "One screamed in my face and I can't hear, " he said, hoping for a moderate tone. He recalled the tendency the security team had to yell to one another at the shooting range when the speaker had ear plugs in, even when the listener did not. He quickly glanced back to see if he had attracted anyone's attention. Shelly grasped his shoulder, turning him back toward her and thrust her communicator up toward his face with a shaky hand. He placed his hand over hers to steady it as he read the pilot's message. He stole a glance at her when he finished. Their eyes met. His looked innocent and eager while hers went from panic to confusion at their shared moment. "Not the time, " he thought as he flashed a smile and mouthed, "Let's go".

Travis led us out of the shadows and toward the edge of the compound. Shelly heard commotion on the far end and looked back to see the remaining guards had gathered the Pneuma farmers into a line against the house wall. The burning barn washed them in an eerie light and contrasted the dark shadows of dusk. The leader began shouting... Shelly could only make out the word, "Contaminated". Whatever he said made some of the farmers cower against the wall while others pointed to the sky and yelled in protest.

The head guard raised a fist. His troupe raised their spears. His hand dropped. They lunged in, silencing protests and whimpers alike. Elsaap and I wailed in agony. Our families had been murdered before our eyes. Elsaap lunged toward the guards, Travis grabbed him and pulled him back. Shelly shushed and took us by the hand. They quickened the pace and we broke into a run as soon as we had cleared the buildings.

A sickening sound interrupted our escape. Travis moaned in pain as Shelly spun to see a spear had skewered him through the meat of his left thigh. He spun in a haphazard semicircle and fell into a twisted heap, breaking the shaft of the spear leaving only a few inches protruding from either side. Shelly rushed to his side and helped him to his feet as Elsaap and I hissed at the oncoming guard. Without breaking stride, a guard peeled back its lips, revealing pointed teeth. A blaze of lightning shot out its mouth and jolted into Travis. Shelly fell away from his side as he crumpled into a heap. Purple spots swam in her vision, and something in her hand felt cold. She held Travis's pistol. She must have grabbed it helping him up and latched on during the jolt.

A shot cracked out and blood streamed from the advancing guard's sinuous neck. It continued to advance a few paces, apparently unaware of the wound. It opened its mouth as if to sear her with another bolt, but collapsed in the dusty earth, a body length away.

Shelly felt Travis's neck for a pulse. Travis gasped a quick breath, startling her. A wave of relief washed over her and she motioned for us to grab an arm on either side of him. She grabbed his legs, careful not to twist the impaled thigh. We made slow progress away from danger. I cried for my mother and father while we carried the wounded man.

Moments passed as we carried his unconscious body. It seemed like hours to Shelly, she wondered if he would pull through. The sight of their shuttle offered sweet relief, she sighed and a few tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Lancett strapped him onto the stretcher in the back of the shuttle and wrapped his injured leg until they could return to LARC1 and get him to the colony's hospital. Shelly urged us onboard and we strapped into seats. She hadn't noticed before when sitting down for a meal, but our tails simply popped out from under us and twitched tentatively from side to side like a kitten at play.

Minutes passed and the shuttle touched down near the rocky hill where Javier, Dr. Lancett, and Simon were waiting. Simon's face looked dangerous when he saw Elsaap and I. His hand dropped for the pistol.

"No!" Shelly cried, "They helped me escape, and those guards killed the rest of their people." She unstrapped while she spoke and positioned herself between us and Simon.

"What the hell are you thinking bringing them aboard, " Simon snarled.

"They are political refugees now, " Dr. Lancett said, "This is a great opportunity for us to observe their species and to give Miss Crispin opportunity to become fluent in their dialect".

"They look kind of cute too, " Javier said. He pulled a power bar from his pocket, un-wrapped it, and broke it in half. He offered a piece to each of us, we accepted it, making a noise close to a purr in appreciation. I ate it even though we were stuffed from the banquet only minutes before. I didn't want anyone thinking we would be troublesome.

Lancett nodded toward Simon's burned leg, "Let's treat that, " he said. "We've got a couple of hours before the shuttle reaches the ship."

"Alright Doc" Simon replied, "Those medieval mini-Godzillas have got bad breath."

A few hours later the shuttle plotted an orbit around a nearby moon which brought them into position to dock within their colonial starship. Christa brought the shuttle into dock without incident. She had been out on hundreds of scouting missions carrying geologists, miners, and biologists to asteroids and planets that the ship passed by in order to gather supplies. It had been twentyfive years since the craft and its city of colonists left Earth to populate a distant world. Many of its original occupants had children who grew into adulthood onboard, never having seen their home planet, or any habitable world for that matter.

After docking the shuttle we were in the decontamination unit overnight. The medical technicians wore protective suits and operated on Travis's leg in an adjacent room. He had regained consciousness and his hearing loss had turned to a ringing noise that the Doctors assured him would be temporary.

"Is Shelly alright?" he asked when he came around.

"She fared well enough to get you to safety, " replied his physician. "You're lucky that spear missed an artery or you would have bled out before reaching the shuttle."

Shelly sighed with relief minutes later, when the Doctor delivered the news of his imminent recovery. She had only seen him around the ship a few times before today, but she thought it would be nice to spend some time with him after this had passed. She liked his athletic build and short black hair. He definitely offered a change of pace from the stuffy archeologist she had recently broken up with.

The approach of the ship's leader interrupted her thoughts. Admiral Grunden stood average in height, but broad shoulders, a thick chest, and sharp blue eyes gave an air of power. His piercing gaze immediately locked on Simon's face. His stare bored into the man, but to his credit Simon returned the look with a cool gaze that stood in defense of his actions. After a full minute Grunden scanned the rest of the group until he saw Shelly in the corner huddled near Elsaap and me. The penetrating stare melted into wide eyed, gape mouthed awe.

"They are fascinating biological specimens, " Dr. Lancett said, breaking the silence. "These are juveniles. All the adults we encountered were blue. I can't help but notice that their color changes during growth are reminiscent of eels back on Earth".

"Sir, I have arrived and begun an audio-visual recording for your debriefing, " said MARC. The android had entered silently behind the admiral. He had a human form, and his silver frame stood nearly four feet tall. MARC's face display featured a bland representation of human features. However his face could change at any moment when the image of one of the board of directors of the League of Atlantis Reborn Colonists, or LARC spoke. MARC embodied virtual representatives from the organization that coordinated the efforts of building, launching, and governing colonial vessels and eventually the colonies themselves. This vessel became the first of twenty according to the last update MARC downloaded over fifteen years ago.

"Thank you MARC. I'd like a complete report from the moment the shuttle left the dock, " said the Admiral.

"Sir, our visual scans of the planet's surface confirmed the data we gathered from our shipboard telescopes, " Dr. Lancett replied, "The Southern hemisphere is sparsely populated, while the North appears more densely inhabited."

"I located a lone settlement a few miles from the nearest city and set the craft down a couple miles away, well out of sight, " Christa said.

Simon recounted much of the conflict that erupted at the banquet table. MARC sat passively observing until the conclusion. His bland features changed to that of a woman in her eighties, skin tone replaced by the vibrant green hue of the projected image. "The League welcomes our little guests as political refugees. The planet Haran bodes exploration, but we would not advise colonizing next to undeveloped hostiles."

Our decontamination period lasted only another day and Shelly spent her time with us learning the finer points of Pneuma language and teaching the basics of American English, used as the everyday language on the ship. Then we spent an additional day with the colony's geneticist. Dr. Zimmerman felt eager to take down every detail of our physiology, natural habits, psychology, and anatomy. Somehow, Elsaap and I adjusted to our changes, we were happy that Shelly would be our caretaker until we reached maturity. I cried for my family often in those first days, but Shelly was always there to comfort me. Elsaap brooded a bit, but I've always been able to cheer him up. Shelly took us to Travis's room in the hospital after the physical exams.

"Hey." he said, startled.

"Hi." Shelly said.

"Hi." Elsaap and I chirped.

Travis noted the excited expression on our faces. His leg throbbed and his ears still had a mild ringing, but his discomfort quickly dissolved in Shelly's presence. A broad grin lit up his face and he motioned for the trio to sit. He pulled out earbuds and silenced the rapid beat of heavy metal from the end of the twentieth century, what he considered classic rock.

"I want to thank you guys for carrying me to safety back there, " he said.

"I wanted to thank you for coming after me, " Shelly said, feeling her cheeks flush and looking away for a moment. "I've been granted custody of Pringar and Elsaap, it seems that adopting beings who are fleeing death on their home-world is a lot easier than adopting an orphaned kid on the ship. We've been released from decontamination and reassigned to a much larger apartment."

"That's great! How are they doing here? It must be a crazy change of pace going from farm life to a space ship full of people without tails..."

"I can't believe how well they have taken it so far. Perhaps their youth lends to their acceptance of the changes, " she said.

Travis got control of his nerves, he knew this was a perfect moment to ask her out. In all the classic action movies filmed back on Earth, guys always get the girl after the explosions stop and they both make it out in one piece. She gave him a quizzical look.

"I've been hoping to get to know you, " he said, barely able to get the words out. "Can we spend some time together and get dinner when I get out?"

Shelly felt the heat in her cheeks rise, "That sounds great, " she said with a sheepish smile. We craned our necks close to one another and spoke in hushed excited tones. We glanced up at the two flirts for a brief look and chittered a giggle. It was clear, even to us, that these pink hairy primate people liked each other.

"Here is my new room assignment and my communicator number, type me a message as soon as you get released, " she said with a smile as she keyed the information into his communicator. "Bye" she kissed his cheek, which elicited even more chatter.

"Bye bye, " we repeated as we departed.

The journey to the neighboring planet in the solar system took seventeen days. Shelly recalled the excitement she felt as a little girl when the ship departed Earth's orbit and just a few weeks later approached Mars. What an amazing coincidence after all these years on board, exploring the universe that their destination star harbored not one habitable planet, but two. It took the ship twenty five years to reach the Pneuma's home world Haran. Now another half month and they would explore their second alien world. Telescopes uncovered no advanced life and no signals of any kind transmitted from the planet's surface.

Another sentient race to share existence with, the long term effects on the culture of this colony were unimaginable! Though the small group of farmers and guards they encountered were fearful and hostile, proof that the two species could happily cohabitate settled in to her new quarters. Whatever the potential discoveries their destination brought, Shelly had an entire lifetime's worth of work as a linguist right here with these children.

Doctor Zimmerman determined that Elsaap and I were not relatives, nearing adolescence, and that I was female while Elsaap was male. These were all things we could have told him had he waited a week or two for our English skills to develop. Our DNA showed an evolutionary ancestry included creatures unmistakably similar to eels on Earth, just as our appearance confirmed. Shelly felt excited to see how we fared in water since we have a set of gills as well. She knew Travis swam regularily and looked forward to a day at the beach in the colony's Earth habitat.

By the end of our first week together, Shelly had mastered the Pneuma dialect to fluency. A theoretically improbable feat since we had completely different vocal anatomies and histories. However the tongue's similarity to Sumerian, from Earth's earliest recorded history, enabled her studies to progress rapidly. The lingual departments from both of the ship's universities were eager for more than just her nightly notes and video recordings to study, but our wellbeing and proper adjustment to life among humans took priority. Our grasp of English proved inexplicably remarkable, since we had no advanced education or knowledge of dialects outside our own. After just days our fluency level would be considered conversational.

That evening Shelly settled in with us and asked that we tell stories about the way we lived. Pringar and I recited the tale in tandem, often finishing one another's sentences. Our tale formed a foundation of Pneuma culture as well as the cause of the scouting mission's abrupt failure.

Thousands of years ago the Pneuma lived much as they do today. Peaceful relations prevailed among all and the land provided the means for a fruitful existence. This ended when a group of villagers discovered a stone from the stars. It burned through the night sky and crashed into their village. The stone sparkled unlike anything they had seen, so the people broke it apart and fashioned bits of it into jewelry. Everyone in the village adorned themselves with fragments of the stone. Over the following seasons, a change began to occur starting with the color of their skin. Instead of a steely blue, the villages were turning black, white, green, purple, and red. Their backs sprouted massive wings and the changed villagers soon learned to take flight. Their breath energy, which were the sonic burst, electrical bolts, and spouts of flame unleashed from their throats intensified and they found that they could reach the ground with an attack from high above in the sky.

Their physical changes were only the beginning. A number of years passed and the once isolated village prospered and grew into the planet Haran's first city. Unchanged Pneuma came from neighboring communities to work under the changed ones, who distinguished themselves as an evolved species and called one another the Anki.

The Anki developed abilities using their imagination to manifest changes in the world around them. Some could persuade others to do things they otherwise would not, and read thoughts. Some Anki could move objects with their minds. Another group of Anki developed the ability to manifest objects that could perform extraordinary feats. This last group simply had to think of what they wished to accomplish, and the stones from the soil and elements of plant life twisted and changed into machines that could complete the task. In this manner the Anki developed a savant technology. No one among them knew how the devices functioned, nor could anyone handcraft their match. The children listed several items they had encountered onboard the ship stating that the Anki could make such devices with only a thought. Communicators, cooking stoves, refrigerators, transporters, and even ships were only a thought away.

The Pneuma who worked under the Anki became dependent upon the new technology and upon the Anki's new way of life. Soon the Anki aspired to spread their new civilization across all of Haran. The King and his subjects in the capital city began to revolt. They learned what had become of the Pneuma who turned into Anki and the fate of those who served. Many who lived during the revolt perished. The Anki destroyed the King and his entire army, but all the Pneuma had taken the cause. This would have been the end of the Pneuma, but the Anki took pity on those who were once their brothers. Unable to live in harmony, the Anki, who had the power of creation, formed ships that floated through the air and space. They were never seen again.

The Pneuma who remained rebuilt their villages and destroyed every remnant of the Anki except for their system of written words. Over the years a Pneuma would occasionally grow into an Anki, but never an entire village. When an Anki emerges, the King's guards execute it as soon as they get word. Fear of enslavement is so strong that when unexpected situations arise, the King's guards boil into a murderous frenzy. This caused the conflict that the scouting party encountered on Haran.

Shelly, Travis, Elsaap, and I went to the beach in the Earth habitat portion of LARC1. In order to recreate man's relationship with the plant and animal life that society had evolved with and depended upon, the ship contained an artificial salt water ocean, a fresh water lake, a rain forest, a desert, grassy plains, and a forest of pine, maple, and elm trees. Not only were the synthetic natural environments home to the complex life-web of plant and animals, they helped the ships air purifiers to recycle the air through plant respiration, rainfall, and diatoms in the ocean.

Travis and Shelly watched us swim. We moved through the water like the eels we had evolved from. Travis held a cane on the side of his healing leg.

"I'm actually glad for the doctor's restrictions today. Those two would have destroyed me in a swimming race."

"How long until you have fully recovered?"

"Too long. My request to take part in tomorrow's scouting mission was denied. I may not return to active duty until the colony has been completely nested."

"I've been passed over for this one too. These kids may be my only assignment for the foreseeable future, " Shelly said with a smile. "It is nice to spend time with you that doesn't involve fighting and running though."

Shelly's face flashed from a smile to concern. She darted to the water line looking frantically from side to side. We were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly a bottle nose dolphin burst through the surface of the water twenty feet from the shore. A moment later I burst out next to the dolphin in perfect imitation. Then we swam within five feet of Shelly to the point of the ocean shelf were the beach dropped its full depth.

"We made friends!" I said followed by a hissed giggle. "Elsaap is helping hunt for fish, but I don't like the way their scales crunch."

******

The next day Christa flew the team assigned to the scouting mission. An archeologist and two security officers joined Dr. Lancett and Javier. From a low orbit telescope, scans confirmed that the signs of civilization visible from space were nothing more than sparse ruins. Life signs appeared in abundance, herds of grazing animals moved over sweeping fields reminiscent of the North American Great Plains before European settlement. Thermal scans over one of the planet's oceans revealed life in various sizes moving about.

"How is your aquatic piloting?" Dr. Lancett inquired. "Before we land and explore on foot I'd like to confirm that oceans don't hold hostile sentient life."

"Great plan! Let's get down there and find Bobby a mermaid girlfriend, " Javier said giving the young security officer a nudge with his elbow.

"He's still getting over Christa's rejection, " said his partner with a smirk. "Two in one day and the poor guy's bound to drink himself silly at Rick's Pub again."

"I'm right here guys! C'mon..." Bobby Rogers said. "Besides Christa said she'd love to if she wasn't already seeing someone, so that doesn't count as a shutdown."

This elicited eye rolling and snorts of choked back laughter from all except Christa, who did her best to study the gauges and look oblivious to the whole situation.

The ship slid under the water's surface and Lancett peered into a monitor that showed a thermal display with exquisite clarity. A school of creatures that bore a remarkable resemblance to sea horses approached the vessel cautiously. One poked the hull with its snout and the whole group darted away into the obscurity of the ocean depths. The shuttle descended to the ocean floor, Christa reported that they were nearly six hundred feet below the surface. Plant life thrived in abundance, creating an undersea forest teeming with animal life. The species that caught the team's attention and affection looked like a bear's head, arms, and chest with the lower body of an octopus. The creature, about the size of a watermelon, seemed not to notice the craft and batted playfully at some of the sea grass. Dr. Lancett busied himself making recordings and scanning it with the ships various instruments while the rest of the crew enjoyed its playful antics.

The vessel lurched suddenly and buried its nose in silt. Something big struck the hull. A sound like a scrub brush on steel echoed through the cabin and Christa intuited that they had only been grazed by something large.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked. After a round of startled nods she bent over the controls. "Hold on."

The ship slid back in a zig zag and a cloud of murk obscured the view. She continued the reverse motion until clear water revealed what lay outside the upturned silt. Their little octobear found itself coiled tenderly in the tentacle of its massive mother, easily the size of a whale.

"I think I've got enough data for today, " Lancett said. "Let's put down on the surface and stretch our legs bit."

They landed near the base of a mountain range. Christa stayed in the shuttle, leery of leaving the craft unattended after the evacuation they had on Haran. She adjusted some of the craft's sensors for greater accuracy on the surface and began locating and identifying life forms. A surveillance drone tracked down and observed the various species the shuttles sensors had located. The data transmitted to biologists and sociologist on the ship for analysis. The encounter with the Pneuma reinforced the colony's directive that settling on a world occupied by a sentient race could lead to hostility. The ship's population seemed eager to occupy a planet and convert the closed colony into an open air city, but the ship could continue traveling indefinitely if needed.

The scouting party spent the afternoon hiking around the base of the mountain. Javier and Dr. Lancett collected a handful of plant samples that appeared edible. A few hours passed without any sign of danger.

"Let's head over there, " said Dr. Walters, the team archeologist. He pointed at what appeared to be a lookout tower a few miles off and a small climb up the base of the mountain.

"We'll run ahead to make sure it's abandoned, " Bobby said. The two security officers were gone before anyone could reply.

Javier Mendez advised Dr. Lancett and Dr. Walters to move slowly and he took extra care to check for paths, trails, or signs of recent movement. Aside from the brush displaying evidence of grazing animals and the trampled grass and broken branches that security had disturbed, the area appeared untouched. "I doubt we'll find anyone home, " he said with certainty.

Their communicators displayed an "All clear, " message from Bobby when they reached the base of the mountain and the three made the climb, eager to see what had been left behind.

They found a structure that made by sentient beings, but not anytime in the recent past. A six story tower, made of massive stone block, lay in contrast to the natural serenity of the view. A clearing under the tower revealed evidence that a number of wooden structures had surrounded the tower until the elements had whittled them into dust. There were hand tools, stone dishes, and various other artifacts strewn about the ruins. Trees, bushes, and grass had sprung up over the years since the area's abandonment.

"This is incredible, " Walters murmured to himself as he made recordings with his communicator's camera.

"Wait till you ride the invisible elevator!"

"You two disturbed the site in there?"

"We checked for flame spitting Pneuma, if that's what you mean, " said Bobby with a smirk. "All the good stuff is in there, so never mind this garbage."

Walter shoved a snide remark to the back of his mind as he rushed toward the tower's entrance. He gasped in awe as he stood in the entry way of what resembled an engineering room on the ship, save for a thick layer of dust. The first floor, a single room, doors lined the wall to his right, a console, what looked like a key pad, and a bank of monitors to the left, and two open cubicles lay in front of him, opposite the entry way. One had an arrow rising while the other had an arrow descending.

"Was the door open?"

"It slid open when we approached, but not everything opens. Aside from the front door, we've only been able to get to the top floor. The computer down here won't turn on, but upstairs there is a giant window with an active touch display, " Bobby said.

Dr. Walters rushed into the cubicle with the up facing arrow. He gasped and his stomach fell through the floor as he felt his body rise. He floated up. Avery Walters had never been a fan of roller coaster rides and this experience went far beyond the anxious excitement he felt at the State Fair as a kid. He did his best to stifle his nervous excitement as his rush to the top came to an end, until he looked down. Walter's head spun and his knees buckled as his mind failed to grasp how he stood on thin air above six empty stories. He had just enough sense to lean forward, hands outstretched as he fell down. Pain and relief washed over him in equal measure as he collided with the solid stone floor. He rolled onto his back, scooted clear of the entryway and gasped in air, trying to regain control of his nerves.

Dr. Elroy Lancett whooped as he sprung out of the cubicle. A look of concern replaced his childish excitement when he saw Walters. "Are you alright Doctor?" He reached a hand down toward the disheveled archeologist.

"I wasn't ready for that, " Walters said, with a nod toward the cubicle as he grabbed Lancett's hand and rose to his feet.

Lancett silently mused that his assumption of all archeologist being tough, adventurous, daredevils like the classic films, proved misguided.

"We'd better look around here a bit before you head back down. Bobby said that's the real ride."

Walters choked back breakfast, which had suddenly leaped up his throat. Bobby joined them and strode across the room, also the only one on this floor of the structure. Aside from the two cubicles that served as entryway, exit, and thrill ride, only a window lined the wall from waist to head height. Bobby called their attention to the shuttle they had arrived on, barely visible in the distance. He put both hands on the glass and slid his hands apart. The shuttle instantly grew until it filled the entire space of Bobby's outstretched arms. The two scientists gasped in amazement.

The walk back to the shuttle teemed with excited speculation. This was certainly not the craftsmanship they had observed on the planet Haran a few weeks ago. If engineers could glean even a portion of the technology from the tower, the advancements would carry human technology hundreds of years forward, overnight.

"Whoever built that tower isn't showing their face now, " Christa replied after Bobby reported the group's discovery. "I monitored life signs and the drone captured hundreds of images and behavioral observations, none of which appeared sentient." This could be our new home, she thought to herself as the shuttle returned to the colonial ship in the planet's orbit.

Decontamination passed uneventfully, as Christa often found it. Such outstanding efforts were taken to purge the colonists of pathogens that these procedures were a commonly accepted part of life. Scientists procreated all the plants and animals aboard the vessel to insure they didn't carry harmful diseases. Christa laughed at the thought of making salt water from scratch when it covered most of Earth's surface. Mankind's last great conquest, the European colonization of the American continents, became a disaster for the indigenous people, killed off to a tenth of their former number by encountering the plague that Europeans had survived generations before. What many North Americans celebrated as Columbus Day, LARC members saw as the day one race of men invaded another with an accidental biological weapon, while expanding the slave trafficking of a third race. Any means of preventing humanity from causing harm to another intelligent society must be taken.

Dr. Walters spent nearly his entire decontamination period describing the tower and its incredible technology to Admiral Grunden, Governor Paperman, and the ship's Mechanized Artificial Representative Councilors, called MARC. There were plans for further study, as well as talk of how the private sectors could access the unit for potential reverse engineering without disrupting what could be a unique archeological site. MARC blipped through a number of the council members faces until every interested simulated party had its opportunity to have questions answered.

Grunden, Paperman, and MARC deliberated privately after their interview with the slight Archeologist, who still appeared shaken with equal parts fear and excitement from the encounter.

"The people of this colony want to take root before another generation comes and we continue losing our original passengers to old age, " said Paperman. Years of public appearances on the ship had perfected Paperman's smile. He had been Governor since around the time of MARC's last update, years before his hair turned white.

"I know everyone is excited to debark, " said Grunden, "It's on my list too."

Grunden's promotion to Admiral came only two years ago with the late Admiral Miller's unexpected stroke, which left him unable to perform his duties. Grunden still sought Miller's advice on the big issues, the two were often seen sitting together in the park near the assisted living sector of the ship.

"We know there were advanced forms of intelligent life here, but all our data indicates they left the planet hundreds or even thousands of years ago. MARC's counsel is unanimous in its support for landing the colony and giving this world a name, " said the green visage of a pudgy middle aged man, who spoke through the little gray android.

"I believe we are in agreement ladies and gentlemen, " said the Admiral, "We'll need some time to find an ideal site, and run simulations of the craft's final descent."

"Of course, there are nearly five hundred thousand lives at stake. Please take all the time that you need. After all, nothing could ever return LARC1 to space, or nudge it into a better position for that matter, " said a thin middle aged woman through MARC's display.

******

Governor Paperman announced the news of the imminent settlement to the entire population and declared the date a Colonial holiday. Preparations would begin in the morning to ready the city sized craft to enter the planet's atmosphere and settle into its new location.

The numerous industrial facilities would enter a shutdown phase. The colony's paper mill, waste treatment facility, it's power generating station, most of its two hospitals (except their emergency and life support units), as well as its hundreds of food processing, chemical plants, machine shops, textile mills, and retail centers would power down and reduce personnel to a skeleton crew. The Governor ordered that industry managers release as many people to the emergency shelters as possible during landing. LARC engineers designed them to be the safest section of the craft, every seat came equipped with air bags, emergency oxygen, and shock absorptive cushions. The rooms themselves were actually floating in a shock absorptive fluid that could also suppress fire and maintain proper air pressure. Their second and far more utilized function hid the emergency features away and the space was used for movies, theatrical productions, concerts, and town hall meetings.

The craft would separate on the day of the landing. The colonial portion was a massive oval structure. It could be seen in Earth's night sky while under construction in orbit. It stretched three miles long and a mile in diameter at its center. Windows covered three quarters of it, leaving the belly unadorned since it would be nested onto rock and soil after its descent. The part of the ship responsible for its propulsion would remain in orbit. It formed a mile diameter ring currently seated on the rear tip of the ship. Magnetic pulsers glowed all around the ring while viewing ports faced the colonial portion of the vessel. Not currently visible, the central shaft locked into place in the colony's core. Its diameter, roughly one thousand feet, ran the entire three mile distance through the colonial vessel.

After separation, the shaft would serve as a space dock for smaller vessels as well as a construction yard for a second colonial craft. The hollow core of the colony craft also had a practical function. The colony would land in the planet's largest river and the flowing water would provide hydro-electric power, and fresh water.

Credit for the ship's design remained a mystery, although humans created many of its functional components. In 2021 a deep sea exploration mission found the fabled lost city of Atlantis. Numerous corporations and a few governments funded its recovery to the surface. It became the prototype that for the colonial craft. Every scientist of note in their field studied it over the next decade. It changed the world.

Atlantis was not from Earth, scientists discovered three elements used in its construction that could not be replicated in laboratories. It provided humankind with a cache of technological advances. As of the day they recieved Earth's last transmission, scientists sill gleaned discoveries and advances from its hull. For all the information it gave to mankind, it opened twice as many questions. Evidence indicated that most of the ship's components were missing. Archeologists theorized that much of it relocated to the surface or returned to space on another vessel. Mankind's discovery had seen thousands of years of corrosion from seawater as well as a magnificent collection of deep sea coral that had previously been undiscovered.

Atlantis, now restored, remains afloat in the Atlantic, traveling from one coastal city to the next enabling people to take a pleasure cruise on the artificial island in one of its many resorts. Scientists also occupy the sector which suffered the least damage and many had not left their station for years. In 2031 LARC, the League of Atlantis Reborn Colonies, began. They also completed plans for the propulsion section. Its construction exceeded all expectations. Crews completed colony and propulsion ring in less than four years. The inhabitants spent five years living on the vessel while in Earth's orbit. LARC felt satisfied that the colony stood ready for its voyage after numerous test flights to other planets within the solar system.

LARC formed a corps of soldiers, explorers, pilots, and scientists to operate the craft as well as to conduct exploratory missions. On this mission they made up fifty thousand individuals, roughly a tenth of the colony's population. The League selected the remaining population composed of families from diverse background and all walks of life. LARC selected those who could already fill the positions the ship needed in its industrial sector first, to insure it departed properly manned. Next, diversity became the chief consideration, a handful of families from different countries and cultures filled out the roster. Artists, writers, and musicians completed the population. LARC aimed to enable every aspect of life of Earth to flourish on the ship and its destination world.

While the League manned the craft and made exploratory and military decisions, the Governor, elected by the general population, ran the civilian areas of life. Approving new small business, reviewing lending practices in the colony, and hosting community events were among the chief responsibilities. The Governor also worked with an elected city council to determine the appropriate tax needed to keep the civilian sector functioning. LARC funded itself by selling the various industries raw materials harvested from asteroids and unpopulated worlds it had encountered as the colonial vessel flew toward its destination. The League also held shares in many of the industries aboard the ship and funded much of its crew member pay through the income generated from dividends and selling shares to shipboard civilian investors. Humanity loved capitalism so much they began to spread it across the galaxy, became the prevailing joke aboard the city sized craft.

******

Geologists, biologists, and construction teams where all dispatched in shuttles to the surface to prepare the site were the colony would land. The biologists, led by Dr. Lancett took every effort to evacuate the local wildlife from the area. They catalogued species while relocating animals. While most simply fled the strange newcomers, others tried to fight to protect their dens and territories, others still tried to hang around and befriend the scientists.

I think this scouting team had a much easier time than when Shelly's group came to Haran. I waited in eager anticipation of a report along with the half million inhabitants of the colony. Looking back, I should have savored my time in space. I didn't get another chance to leave my new home for years after that.

"Easy there little fella, don't get too hasty banging keys before I upload my findings, " Lancett said to a small green primate who took an interest in his computer set up.

"I'll bet you and your family are the first to be adopted as pets."

The creature looked into Lancett's face and chittered along as if it were in reply.

Construction teams set up blockades around the area to prevent the creatures return. There were motion sensors that activated sound and light sirens to scare off any would be intruders. Anything within the site when the ship set down would be crushed.

The geology team surveyed the site and determined the appropriate places to set explosives. Soil would be removed from where the round belly of the ship would rest, two thousand feet below the surface. The river which would soon run through the center of the ship dammed into a temporary reservoir on the day of the colony's landing.

The sight of the craft from the planet's surface looked incredible. At dusk the science and construction teams could see it clearly like a giant silver football floating in compliment to the three moons the planet hosted. The colonists on the surface snapped pictures with their communicators and sent them to ship board friends and family on the last day when the entire ship appeared orange. The color came from a gel developed to reduce temperature from the friction that would be caused by entry into the planet's atmosphere. It would also prevent the belly from tearing on stones when the craft set down.

The surface team relocated to the glacier covered peak of the mountain which rose above the landing site. Lancett and his hundreds of surface bound companions watched in silence, making recordings with their communicators in the dusk as the propulsion ring separated from the colony.

On the propulsion ring Grunden and his crew watched in the same anxious silence. The religious offered up prayers for their friends and family aboard the colony as its thrusters pushed into position to break orbit and enter the atmosphere.

"This is one operation I'm glad I don't have to pilot, " Christa remarked to Javier as they watched from the glacier.

Beacons placed throughout the landing site interacted with the colony's autopilot, which performed thousands of calculations per second. First the craft's rear facing thrusters positioned the colony for its entry, then as the massive craft screamed into the atmosphere front facing thrusters slowed its approach. If the craft were not slowed, the impact would not only obliterate the colony, but the dust cloud that would engulf the planet would choke out most of the life native to the world as darkness and dust covered it surface for more than a decade.

The massive craft filled the sky in front of the glacier as it descended.

"Hang on... it might look better over there, " Lancett said with a smirk, breaking the anxious silence.

Christa barked a sharp laugh, dissolving her nerves. She elbowed the meaty biologist and returned her attention to the event. The thrusters flared to double their size at the last thousand feet before the craft slid neatly into its home.

Cries of joy and relief erupted from every man, woman, and child as the colony completed the journey that had taken twenty five years and spanned countless miles through space.

Pop! A cork flew off the Champaign bottle in Javier's hand and a smile broke the nerves free from his expression. This marked the end of the longest chapter in any of their lives.

Travis looked over at Shelly as the ship settled into its destination. The nervous expression she wore most of the day melted away into a smile. Elsaap and I chittered delightfully, unaffected by the apprehension that had gripped much of the crew. Travis supposed that if he'd undergone a near death experience, then joined strange beings in space for a couple weeks, that landing would seem like a joyride.

"Let's land every day, " Elsaap said with a gleam in his black eyes.

"Sorry little buddy, that's the last time our home would be in space. The ship is too big to leave the planet again. In fact, it can't even move a little bit if we wanted it to, " Travis said. "As soon as we get the word, I'd like to take you guys on a little adventure to explore our new home."

As we left the auditorium Shelly led them to a part of the ship that offered a view of the hollow central shaft. They took a seat at a small café near a thick glass viewport. Shelly had often come to the cafe and noted the feature. It looked rather unremarkable during the journey since the central shaft sat directly on the other side and revealed only bulkhead. Now they saw through to viewports on the other side of the cavity.

Water rushed through the chamber flooding the compartment. We rushed right up to the viewport and peered into the river, which now flowed through the colony's core. Elsaap and I jumped back into identical crouches and yipped in surprise. An eye the size of a soccer ball peered at us for a moment before a blur of murkey green scales slid past for a solid minute. We hissed out giggles and returned to the vantage point.

"I got an officer in the transportation division to take pity on me by hobbling along with this, " said Travis nodding to his cane. "He offered to let me take one of the land crafts out for a joyride. I'd like you and the kids to come with me."

Shelly nodded her approval and a smile lit up her face. Travis admired the way she smiled. He unknowingly reached up and caressed her cheek. The brief contact startled him as much as it did her, and both turned to view the river as their cheeks colored. We exited the colony and joined the whole population in tents just outside the colony for a welcome party.

Elsaap and I lost ourselves in the celebration with the humans. We may not have traveled for a generation with them, but we did leave our old lives behind to live among them. I still have pleasant dreams of that night; food, dancing, bands playing, laughter, and carefree exchanges. An elated feeling stays with me for most of the day after waking from that dream.

The next morning we made our way to the garage. When we came close there were drums pounding and lyrical screams. Elsaap ducked behind Shelly but I began bobbing my head on my long serpentine neck. Travis emerged and circled the vehicle, completely unaware of our arrival. He began strumming the song on an invisible guitar and bobbing his head. Travis glanced up and took notice of us, frozen in the middle of a guitar rift with a shocked expression on his face. He ducked his head through the open vehicle's side window and turned the volume down.

"It's Gift of Destiny. They were huge, years before the Atlantis discovery. They are classic rock now, " said Travis. "Looks like Pringar is a metal head."

"They're gonna send you back!" I yelled in imitation.

"I just finished the pre-trip safety check, and we've been cleared to take off."

"I can't wait, " Shelly said with a smile.

She had always thought screaming rock music appealed to people whose mothers didn't hug them enough as children, but she began to reconsider her position. When they caught him unaware and he had the volume up, she noticed intricacies in the music she wouldn't have expected.

Travis maneuvered the all-terrain vehicle out of the colony through a bay door. He drove down the colony's length and followed the river as it curved, cleaving the grassy plain that stretched a few miles until it disappeared into a thickly wooded forest. He smiled as he thought to himself that earning Shelly's company by being screamed temporarily deaf, electrocuted, and impaled by a spear, proved worth it. Travis looked over at the mousey brunette as her bangs blew about in the wind, his smile widened to a silly grin.

"Eyes on the road, " she said returning his grin with a quick smile of her own.

He brought the vehicle to a stop at the base of the tree line and we climbed out and began to explore the river, poking around the shore in search of local wildlife. Elsaap found a stick on the ground and began an imaginary battle with thin air.

"Get behind me Pringar, I'll save you from the monster!"

"You poke it and I'll breathe my fire on him!" I declared joining in on the game.

"Wow. I thought the allure of the stick was a phenomenon confined to little boys from Earth. I'm amazed by some of the things we have in common, " Travis said.

"It is amazing how well they have adjusted to life on the colony, " said Shelly. "Their fluency in English is nearly perfect. They have mastered our dialect more thoroughly than I have learned theirs, despite my familiarity with Sumerian."

Travis and Shelly watched as the imaginary battle got suddenly interrupted by a small purple creature slowly emerging from the shore of the river. The stick fell to the grass and Elsaap and I crept quietly up for a closer look.

"Not too close" Shelly said, "Don't scare our new friend away."

She snapped a zoomed in picture with her communicator, then she and Travis joined us for a closer inspection. The creature looked like a three foot long salamander. Its lazy eyes passed over us without evidence of concern. It climbed onto a nearby rock and began sunbathing. The purple river dweller held our attention for a few minutes more, then Travis invited us to his favorite diner for lunch. We enjoyed a new view that the diner did not have while enclosed within colony walls.

******

I'll never forget watching the collosal starship shed its hull and transform into a city. Those first weeks, watching the humans settle in were breathtaking. Construction teams worked to dismantle sections of the outer hull which did not serve as walls for the various buildings and industrial centers onboard. The metals and tempered glass would be used to expand the colony beyond the footprint it occupied in space. LARC would auction the materials off to the various industrial sectors and use the funds for its exploration efforts to the nearby stars. Feeling wind, rain, and sunshine in the colony would be a refreshing change since so many years had been spent indoors. Geologist worked with construction teams to inject compounds into the soil below the colony which would convert the foundation from loose soil to a substance as hard as granite. It would also affix the colony to its new foundation, preventing it from shifting due to erosion or earthquake.

Colonial Times, the daily newsfeed reported that Governor Paperman planned construction of a riverfront boardwalk and recreation area. The open air venue would provide new restaurants, an arcade, retail shops, a local wildlife zoo, and a manmade cove with a sand beach. While everyone in the colony looked forward to life on a planet again, or for the first time for many of its young residents, developing a safe outdoor recreation area would keep the civilian public content while LARC teams explored the terrain and determined which flora and fauna posed a risk to health and safety.

Dr. Lancett strolled down the corridors, which he reasoned would soon be streets, on his way to the Earth habitat to meet up with his wife Helena who busily tended to the colony's hydroponic food crops, since early that morning. While in the long run, adjusting to the planet's natural light would be a great energy savings, some of the plants nearing harvest appeared to have undergone shock.

"Elroy, what do you make of this?" inquired the short blond who had retained her youthful beauty well into her middle years.

"It is every bit as round and lovely as the first day I laid eyes on it, " he said with a grin as he continued to eye her bottom.

She scoffed, "The leaves on the pole beans Romeo. I think it's due to the new light source." Helena knew how to care for her shocked pole beans, but this was her way of getting him to talk.

"Growth will likely be delayed a week or so while the plants adjust to their new light source. Harvest any edibles you can and pinch the flowers, it will allow the plant to focus on its recovery."

"I'm excited for our date, you haven't taken me out in ages, " she said in a playful tone.

They were actually going on an expedition to gather wild samples of native species that his initial analysis proved had agricultural potential. Their romantic life however, remained a source of constant joy and thirty four years of marriage had only intensified their attraction to one another.

Equipped with rough canvas root bags, spades, and a ground transport with a truck bed, they ventured near the tree line and scanned the forest for their target specimens. One vine, a plump yellow fruit which had a texture like cucumber and tasted like a melon. A root vegetable, deep purple in color, had a round shape like a potato but has about as spicy as a chili pepper. Many taste testers instantly grabbed the toxicology report to recheck that they had not been poisoned. A bushy plant, the height of a man, produced a fruit that looked like a yellow tomato with deep green speckles but had such a high sugar content that it tasted sweeter than candy.

As they searched, the couple discussed the potential implications of an accidental release of Earth's plant and animal species into their new home's environment. Colonization held some of Earth's greatest advances, like the introduction of corn into the European diet. It also held some of Earth's largest setbacks, like the extinction of the Dodo bird when dogs arrived on their island paradise with man. If a species from Earth found itself free in an environment where it had no natural predators it could flourish until the point when it eliminated its food source. The invader could outperform a local that had thrived for millennia and contributed to the delicate balance that the ecosystem maintained.

LARC's objective on the matter outlined decade's worth of research and cataloguing of the current natural state of the planet. There were likely unlimited medical and commercial resources in the local environment that would be threatened by the introduction of Earth species prior to their research. Plans to construct a new ecological dome would allow Lancett and his team to create a hybrid environment and observe the effects of mingling species.

"Here's a local tomato!" Helena said, "Elroy help me dig up the roots, would you? I'll get the bag ready."

******

On the base of the mountain Bobby, Simon, and a rancher named Ryan McDonald held their rifles to their cheeks, peering through the scopes at a herd of plump animals grazing among rocks, twenty yards up the slope. The wildlife had not learned to fear humans so the usual efforts of odor and visual concealment that a game hunter undertook proved unnecessary. Three muffled cracks fired and the herd darted off into nearby brush. Three of the animals only made it a few leaps before falling onto their flanks, tranquilizer darts protruding from their orange brown hides. A thick matt of fur promised a potential substitute for wool. The security officers and the rancher placed their rifles in the cab of the transport and ambled over to their quarry.

"Old MacDonald had a farm...ee eye ee eye oh, " Simon sang. He taunted the rancher all morning with the ridiculous children's song.

Ryan felt accustomed to this. However, the fact that it came from a grown man instead of a ten year old playground bully seemed unusual.

The animals didn't have hooves as they expected, instead they had paws with a remarkable similarity to human hands, only much larger and rougher. A glance at the remaining herd shed light on the evolutionary quirk. They were scaling a sheer rock face a couple hundred feet tall, on the way to a plateau with grass and trees. One of the creatures leaped three body lengths straight up and cleared the ledge. Watching them move felt incredible. Figuring out a pen that could hold them would be a real challenge. MacDonald would need the entire herd to have enough stock for his domestication and breeding program.

They each took an animal over their shoulders and carried them to the transport. Simon recounted his tale of Haran to Bobby and MacDonald. He noted that they had domesticated pigs and already had fields of crops.

"We could have sent the entire security force along with a volunteer militia to overrun their government, " Simon said with a hard look on his face. "Those eel men have no weapons except their fire, shock, and sonic breath."

"That sounds pretty tough, " Bobby replied "You guys killed a handful just on a meet and greet. An invasion force would cause heavy casualties all around."

"They only have a range of about ten feet, we could attack from armed shuttles and level their army. All this building would be unnecessary, and we'd have all the cheap labor we could want."

MacDonald looked disgusted, "Why kill them when we could become allies over time?"

"They live in the Dark Ages, we saw their soldiers execute the entire farm's people just for talking to us, " said Simon.

"Except those two yellow kids that Shelly adopted, " Bobby said.

"We should have left them to die, " Simon hefted his quarry onto the transport. They rode back to the colony in silence.

His comment elicited a disapproving glare from Bobby.

******

MARC and Admiral Grunden walked the three mile length of corridor that became docking ports and would soon be the staging area for construction supplies for a second colonial vessel. MARC's face shimmered from one board member to the next as he and Grunden reviewed plans for harvesting raw materials from the three moons for their ship building program. They speculated on the time that would pass before MARC's next update arrived. At his last update, technology proved incapable of sending a signal over that distance any faster than their voyage took. However discoveries on Atlantis were continuing at that point as well as what LARC1's scientists continued to discover independently.

In one generation there would be a new colonial craft and enough people to make a second journey. Initial telescope data indicated that at their current propulsion capability, they could reach a system with a habitable planet in less than seven years. The two planets could communicate instantly with one another and even construct crafts for commuting. Their largest hope laid in the promise of new propulsion plans with MARC's impending update and hopefully a permanent communication system with Earth and LARC's headquarters. In light of Haran, a solar system defensive fleet took priority. Grunden and MARC opted to build ships that could hold around a thousand men and had offensive capabilities as well as the ability to touch down on a planet's surface and launch back into space. Earth boasted a fleet of twenty at MARC's last update. Advancements made by the engineers and physicists on the colony had enabled the crafts in that class and smaller to travel four times faster than the colonial propulsion ring moved. A fleet of six would complement their station and they would construct the colonial portion next, saving the construction of a new propulsion ring and shaft until last.

All their strategy could potentially be augmented by two unknown variables. The first came from ruins like the tower, with its invisible elevators and its incredible viewport. There were potential scientific discoveries beyond Grunden's imagination. A race with those capabilities didn't simply cease to live. This could have been their outpost. They could have moved on, out into the stars, just like humanity had done. If they left one of their craft behind intact, or even plans for the ship on in their databases, they may not need to await MARC's next update to communicate with Earth regularly. Grunden, MARC, and Paperman had already dispatched as many minds as could be spared to investigate.

The other unknown rested on the planet Haran and with its inhabitants. Despite their lifestyle and low tolerance for strangers, Elsaap and I showed a very high intellect. Leadership saw a very real potential for trading domestic items such as tame livestock and precious metals.

MARC's face display changed into a thin man in his middle years. "Admiral we would like you to assemble a team to infiltrate Haran's capital city and begin dialogue directly with its leadership, " he said. "Perhaps lower ranks in their army acted without direct knowledge from their superiors."

"I agree, with Earth so far away it would be unwise to avoid a relationship with the neighbors. I'm going to handpick a team that can negotiate as well as perform a fair amount of espionage."

They plotted out a mission that would last for several months. The team would spend their first month traveling and in orbit, making maps of Haran's population and demographics. Their time would also be spent becoming fluent in the native language with daily lessons over the communication screen on their craft. Shelly, Ellsaap, and I would instruct remotely from the colony. The next phase would put their craft on the ground within a few miles of their government to establish a handful of native informants. They could pay the Pneuma spies whatever they desired including relocation to the colony for their entire family. Once the team gathered enough information, they would meet with Grunden and the board to discuss direct contact with the head of Haran's government. Every member of the mission would be a capable fighter, but there would be no intentional combat. A hothead like Simon Urlitz on this operation would not be tolerated. Swift diplomacy would likely be out of the question after their first encounter erupted in blood.