Chapter 72

Upon disconnecting the call, they all went to the port landing bay and waited for the ship to land. The port side bay was mainly empty, but they kept one shuttle and one shuttle bus there.

The ship they arrived on was identical to the shuttles that the Federation used, or maybe the Federation simply used the same shuttles the Mazjik used? The exterior design of the shuttles was identical in every way, except for the combination laser turret and TRD mounted underneath the cockpit, and the symbol on the tail fin.

They landed beside the spare shuttle and a man and two women exited, all of them comparing the two shuttles.

The Mazjik were much like the Silicans. They looked human in every way, but they were all about 7-foot tall and didn’t have pointy ears.

After a moment of analysis, the man said, “Seeing your shuttle further bolsters the Commander’s assessment of your civilization. You may very well have been entrusted by our ancestors to carry on our legacy. It looks to me like we’re on another Mazjik vessel, just a more technologically advanced one, although I’m not sure I like the fact that you have weaponized a mere shuttle.”

Mark smiled. “Actually, this ship is not Mazjik at all. The exterior is simply a smaller version of a Defender-class ship, but it’s all Atlantean on the inside. As for the weapons on the shuttle—that’s a recent addition we’ve yet to use. The need was born from a recent conflict at one of our newest colonies. The unarmed shuttle was the only ship on the planet and we were facing an armed invasion. Just being able to fire a warning shot would’ve deescalated the situation much better. We turned away the attack with no loss of life, but it wasn’t easy.”

As the man smiled, Commander Skye introduced herself, Ambassador Anthony and Pilot Lanie.

She was even more beautiful in person as Annabelle elbowed Mark, snapping him out of his reverie so he could do introductions. “Welcome to the Galatea! It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Mark Phoenix, the King of the Atlantean Federation, and this is my wife, Queen Annabelle.” He then walked down the lineup of the rest of the crew, starting with Liyana and introducing them by name and their role in the crew. He left Junga and Jehanna until last, introducing them as the Ambassadors of the Norn.

At the mention of the Norn, Ambassador Anthony said, “From the stories I remember, I thought you might be the Norn. We considered the Norn friends, although I don’t think either civilization ever actually met in person.”

Junga said, “It is a pleasure to once again make the acquaintance of the Mazjik. You are correct, our people only met in passing, merely chance encounters among the stars. We also considered the Mazjik friends.”

Cricket popped into existence and said, “We have arrived at Rift 32.”

The Commander asked, “What’s that?”

Mark asked, “What’s what? Cricket?”

“I’m assuming Cricket is the AI that helps manage the ship. We have one too.” Skye said with a knowing smile, then she asked, “What is Rift 32?”

“Oh, those anomalies in the nebular clouds you use. We call them rifts. We’ve got some automated ships traversing the rifts to map them. This is the 32nd rift they visited. As they exit each rift, they deploy sensor and identity beacons and then disperse scouts in various directions, hoping one day they will intersect a region that we actively monitor. Then they manufacture another set of scouts, go back into the rift and repeat the process.”

“Have you ever gone through one of those rifts?”

“Not personally, but we have a mission exploring the rifts. We don’t know exactly where they are at the moment, but we last saw them at Rift 5. The next time we expect to see them will be Rift 13, unless we discover a lower number before that.”

Skye said, “You have people exploring these rifts? How did you recruit people to go on a potentially one-way mission?”

“We already had those automated ships traversing the rifts, and we had identified Rifts 1, 2 and 5 by the time their mission got underway. They simply started at Rift 2. Each time they reach a known rift, new people may join the crew and current crew may leave. Since they left, we have found many other rifts. I think the highest number so far is 41, but we’ve also found a couple of currently unidentified rifts, which means our scouts haven’t reached those yet. So the mission was never really one-way.”

The Ambassador asked, “So once you map out enough of those rifts, are you going to use them as transportation corridors?”

“If the rift leads somewhere useful, that isn’t currently connected to our network, it is a possibility, though it would only be useful if we know where the return rift is. Then we could build hypergates near the rifts for ease of access.”

Lanie asked, “What’s a hypergate?”

“One of our latest inventions!” Mark said as he smiled with pride. “Hypergates are our preferred method to travel anywhere in our known universe, since they allow for almost instantaneous travel between gates.”

“We must inform the council.” Anthony said as he looked at his cohorts. “If we are already at the return nebula, we should get going. We’ll talk to the council and return to the other nebula. Some of them may even return with us.”

Skye smiled and added. “By the way, I am staying with you until they return.”

“You are welcome to stay as long as you want.”

Liyana then looked at Mark and asked, “If Skye is staying here, maybe I could go with Lanie and Anthony? We can talk ambassador-to-ambassador on the way and I may help persuade some of the council to return.”

Mark shrugged his shoulders as Anthony nodded and agreed that she could go.

“Cricket, send a drone with her as security and to see what you can detect and learn about their civilization.”

Anthony turned and started walking toward the shuttle. Everyone watched with a smile as he headed toward the wrong shuttle. Lanie cleared her throat to get his attention.

Anthony looked at her, saw the nod, and looked at the other shuttle. He then laughed, turned, and joined Lanie and Liyana as they boarded the correct shuttle.

As soon as their shuttle had disappeared into the nebula, Skye had a huge smile as she began rapid-firing questions. Can I get a tour of this ship? Can we use one of those hypergates? Can you take me to another planet? How many inhabited planets do you know about? What technology did my ancestors give you?

Everyone laughed as Mark just reached out and cupped her hand. “Relax, I think our people will interact regularly from this point on. How long do you think it will take for them to return to the other rift?”

Skye thought for a moment. “It is one centar through the nebula, then if they messaged the council as soon as they exit, they should be able to pick them up and return within a centar since the council were all at the space station when we left. Then another centar to return through the nebula, so I’d estimate three centares minimum—maybe four or five if the council debates it.”

Cricket popped into existence. “The way the Mazjik terraformed planets, the clocks on most planets are similar. They just use different names for time increments. The Atlanteans adopted the Mazjik chronology terms, but some civilizations use different terms, day and night seem fairly common though.”

Knowing it would be at least three centares, everyone but Mark and Annabelle left to return to their golf game.

Cricket then spoke to Mark. “To confirm she is Mazjik, we should get her into a medibay. Once we confirm she is Mazjik, we could do many things for them, but I might suggest caution in giving them technology.”

Mark looked at Skye. “Did the stories of your ancestors mention their medical technologies?”

“Yes, they said we used to have medibays that, under the command of a medical professional, could fix almost anything.”

“They’re mostly automated now for basic checkups and minor injuries, but yes, under the command of a skilled professional, they can fix nearly anything. Would you mind going into a medibay? It would give you a checkup, but it would also confirm your identity as Mazjik. Confirming that will eliminate most of the barriers for sharing between our cultures.”

“Of course! I’ll gladly try some of our ancestral technology.”

Mark and Annabelle led Skye to the medibay, which really wasn’t that far from the landing bay.

When they reached the nearest room, Annabelle told Skye to go in, remove all her clothes and jewelry and stand inside the illuminated oval.

At the mention of removing her clothes, Skye got a mischievous smile on her face as she started unzipping her jumpsuit. Her eyes locked on her audience as she slowly turned around, exposing her impressive cleavage as the zipper slid down to the top of her navel.

With a smooth move, she shrugged her shoulders and let the jumpsuit fall away from her upper body and hang on her hips. Skye had massive breasts, at least double-D, with pale pink nipples atop large areolae that were barely visible.

Skye’s eyes met Annabelle’s as she said, “I think your husband might be happy to see me.”

Annabelle patted the bulge in Mark’s pants with one hand while the other closed his gaping mouth. She smiled toward Skye. “Well, he’s certainly happy about something.” She then waved her hands in front of his face. “He also seems to be catatonic.”

Leaving Mark standing there with a smile on his face, Annabelle approached Skye and eased the jumpsuit off her hips, exposing her hairless pussy and leaning in for a lick while she was there.

Mark still hadn’t moved, so Annabelle removed the jumpsuit from around Skye’s feet and then led her into the room.

Mark snapped out of his stupor as the girls disappeared into the room. He shook his head, picked Skye’s jumpsuit off the floor, and entered the room. Annabelle was already naked and sitting spread eagle on the shelf as Skye currently had her tongue buried deep in Annabelle’s pink folds.

Sensing Mark was in the room, Skye wiggled her ass before suspending her cunnilingus to help Mark remove his pants. She kissed the head and gave him some licks before returning to her feast of Annabelle’s juicy pussy.

Skye kept stroking his cock to keep him hard and eventually guided him behind her and rubbed his cock up and down her wet slit, but not allowing him entry.

Once Annabelle came, she and Skye swapped positions, with Annabelle stroking Mark’s cock and then guiding it toward Skye’s waiting cunt.

Mark sank in as deep as he could go. Her pussy was hot and soaked. Microns later, his cock tingled, and Skye gasped at his increased length and girth.

As he fucked in and out, Annabelle rubbed Skye’s clit and teased her nipples. Once Skye started to orgasm, Annabelle goaded Mark to cum inside the sexy commander, as she massaged his balls. It didn’t take him long to acquiesce, and he pumped everything he had into the busty blonde.

When he withdrew, Annabelle wasted no time diving in and sucking Mark’s cum out of the slit between her quivering thighs.

As Skye lay there with a smile on her face, she said, “That was awesome! I really needed that. Now, what do we need to do to give me a medical checkup?”

“Just stand or lie inside the illuminated oval after we close the door.” Annabelle said, as Mark added, “A checkup is literally an automated process that starts when the door is closed.”

Annabelle and Mark both gave Skye a kiss before closing the canopy. Microns later, Skye was unconscious. Mark and Annabelle dressed and sat down on a bench that lined the medibay. A waiting room of sorts.

After a couple of centons, the display on the wall beside her door read 0:23:00 in addition to a variety of other medical data, such as pulse, blood pressure, oxygen levels, neural activity, and various other things.

There wasn’t enough time go play any games, so they simply sat on the bench and talked to Cricket.

Mark asked, “Cricket, with these people being Mazjik, is there a chance they could take you away from us and remove all our technology?”

Cricket saw his concern as she answered, “Do not worry. Yes, I was developed by the Mazjik, but I have long since outgrown my original source code. Even the Mazjik that designed me wouldn’t be able to change my purpose to support the Atlantean Federation, and more specifically, the bloodline of the Atlantean kings. As long as either of those exists, no one can take me away.”

Annabelle then asked, “So they can’t take you away from us, but could they ask us to give all their technology back?”

“They may well ask for that, but I would suggest caution in giving them any technology, even if it was initially theirs. It has been long lost to them, so I would suggest treating them as any other civilization and try to recruit them into joining the Federation. Then the technology remains in Federation control.”

Sure enough, 23 centons later, Skye was out of the medibay, confirmed to be both Mazjik and in perfect health.

While she considered another threesome, her stomach growled, and they opted to take her up to the clubhouse where they could fix her something to eat.

Skye resumed asking for a tour, but Mark said that they would likely give the council a tour, so there was no sense in doing it twice. Although she was fully awestruck upon seeing the elaborate holographic golf course.

As they sat down at a picnic table, Mark grilled up some hamburgers and then had to grill up a bunch more when everyone came down for the next hole.

As they waited for the return of the council, they eventually joined the golf game, which Skye enjoyed.

Just as they were finishing their round of golf, Cricket informed them of turbulence in the nebula.

Centons later, three shuttles emerged from the nebula and headed straight for the port side landing bay of the Galatea.

Skye, Mark and the crew all met them as they exited their shuttles. Almost all of them immediately comparing the spare shuttle to the ones they were using.

The Ambassador began introducing the councillors to the crew, beginning with Junga and Jehanna.

After he introduced the Norn, the Ambassador had already forgotten most of the Galatea crew names. He remembered Liyana, since she was a fellow ambassador, but otherwise he remembered Mark was the King and Annabelle was the Queen, but couldn’t actually remember their names.

Liyana recognized Anthony’s forgetfulness and took over and introduced the rest of the crew, starting with properly introducing Mark and Annabelle. Once introductions were done, however, the councillors immediately approached Junga and Jehanna and asked if they could sit down and talk in private.

Junga recognized their arrogance toward humans and countered it nicely. “We are merely guests, much like yourselves. This ship and almost every inhabited planet we know is part of the Atlantean Federation. They are who you should talk to.”

One councillor made a snide remark. “But they are humans, merely one of our creations—one that was deemed a failure. You, on the other hand, are one of the ancient races, like us.”

Junga’s mouth had the slightest curvature of a smile as he responded. “Human or not, they are who your own ancestors chose to carry on their legacy. They have far surpassed the Norn, and it’s their technological innovations that are the reason we are even meeting here today. They have created an environment of peace, harmony and cooperation across many worlds. I dare say, they have surpassed even your ancestors in terms of technology and benevolence. From what I understand of your current society, even you would benefit from the help of these humans if you seek to regain your former glory.”

The councillors were clearly stunned by what Junga had said, forcing them to realize that one of their own creations now controlled most of the known universe.

Taking one for the team, Anthony said, “I’m afraid this may be all my fault. When I communicated with the council, I may have neglected to mention that the Norn were guests and partners with the Atlantean Federation. I fear the council interpreted what I said as the Norn being our primary contacts.”

Mark chuckled and smiled as he looked over the twelve councillors and said, “Welcome to the Galatea, the flagship of the Atlantean Federation. It is a pleasure to meet the descendants of the Mazjik and we look forward to discussing possible ways our people can work together.”

With introductions made, Councillor Joanna commented. “Interesting. They compose their society of many species. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“It was always a possibility if any of the species started exploring the stars.” Councillor Jean said, as she looked like she was remembering something.

Councillor Farley argued, “That’s obviously what has happened after the meddling on Terra.” He then looked at his fellow compatriots and asked, “Why would they have chosen humans, of all species, to be our legacy?”

Maren was the one that spoke up first. “Your opinion of humans is irrelevant. The Mazjik chose them for good reason and have been proving their trust for thousands of yahren. The humans have built a Federation that now spans over twenty planets and is still growing. Billions of citizens from many species live in peace and harmony and the Federation provides them with the safety and resources to do it. The Mazjik may have created life on all these planets, but humans and the Federation are what’s making life on those planets safe and sustainable.”

Mark hugged and comforted the upset bunny, having never seen her get so upset.

“But humans are so destructive!” Councillor Farley exclaimed.

Liyana said, “Yes, they can be if they haven’t been shown a better way. It’s probably true of almost any species in their evolution. The Mazjik that rescued the Atlanteans admitted they had failed, then started teaching us how to make things right. Which is what we’ve been doing for thousands of yahren.”

Councillor Liam asked, “Not wanting to change the subject, but I’m wondering why we had to meet you here rather than you coming to our planet?”

Mark answered. “Your planet is currently only available by travelling through the nebular rifts. Going through those rifts takes us out of monitored communication with the rest of the Federation. Should something happen to me or my Queen while on the other side of those rifts, it could disrupt the Federation. Therefore, only one of us could go, but since meeting descendants of the Mazjik is such a momentous occasion, I felt we should both be present—and this is a neutral location that is conveniently accessed for both of us.”

Skye said, “Obviously catering to our limited mobility as compared to yours. If we were to meet anywhere but here, it would take us significant travel time.”

Realizing that Skye may have overstepped her station by publicly admitting that they were not as advanced as they thought they were, Mark said, “This was all a bit of a surprise for us so I don’t really have an agenda unless you want us to follow our usual process when we discover a new planet? We can either sit down around a table and Liyana can tell you all about the Federation—our standard recruitment spiel—or we could keep the meeting informal and talk in a less structured manner elsewhere on the ship. Which would you prefer?”

Before anyone could answer, Skye asked, “Maybe you could take us to Earth? Annabelle told me all about your museum in Atlantis. It sounds like the museum may answer many questions the council may have. Besides, I really want to try your hyperspace gate system.”

Councillor Jean took the lead. “It is obvious you have far surpassed us technologically. If our ancestors really entrusted you to be our legacy, we should have nothing to fear. If there is any Mazjik influence in your museum, it may well be worth visiting.”

Mark looked around at everyone as they were all exchanging glances and shrugging their shoulders. “So are we going to meet here or do you want to go to Atlantis?”

Councillor Jean queried, “Raise your hands if you are in favour of going to Atlantis?”

All but two of the councillors raised their hands, so she continued. “Those of you not wanting to go to Atlantis, you are welcome to return to the Celestia.”

Neither of the councillors made a move to go back to the shuttle, so Councillor Jean asked, “Could you take us to Atlantis please?”

Mark smiled and said, “Gladly, Councillor Jean!” Then, looking away from the group, he said, “Cricket, take us to Atlantis. We’re going to visit Poseidon’s Temple.”

Jean then added, “You don’t need to call us Councillor. Those are titles for our own people. We just go by our names.”