Chapter 74

They hadn’t even been asleep very long before Cricket was shouting in his mind. “Wake up! New Mazjorca is going to be attacked!”

Mark groggily awakened, feeling the busty blonde still snuggled up against his side and still fast asleep.

“Cricket, what’s going on?” He said with a yawn.

“We just got the first communication from the new comm relay for the Mazjik. There are two Destructor ships approaching the planet. I estimate they will reach the planet in about four centares. The planet is totally defenceless!”

“If we can make it in time, take us there. Send a message to Annabelle, Scott and Kaleb informing them of what’s going on. Tell them to hold in place until they hear from us.”

Skye groaned as she awakened. His attempts to get out of bed without waking her failing miserably.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as he yawned.

Skye yawned in return. “My ass still feels tender, but otherwise, I’m still tired. What’s going on?”

“New Mazjorca is about to be attacked. Get up, wake everyone else up and meet me on the bridge.”

That news had Skye wide awake as Mark simply tossed his old clothes in the recycler and got himself some new ones from the locker.

Skye just watched on with fascination. “Even that bit of technology right there would have a drastic effect on a civilization. Will the Celestia now have those?”

“You have been in the medibay, so it should work for you. Yes, the Celestia will have synths.”

“That’s awesome, but why would it matter if I’ve been in the medibay or not?”

“Remember those medibots we told you about? They also do identification. If you haven’t gone into a medibay, the ship wouldn’t know who you are. The medibots know everything about you, so when it makes your clothes, they always fit you perfectly.”

Skye put her hand to the dot and then scrolled through the screens and outfits, but because she was simply a civilian to the clothing synth, she didn’t have many options. Forgoing the clothing synth, she put her old uniform back on.

Mark went directly to the bridge, while Skye waited in the central lounge area as people were awakening.

Mark sat in his usual seat and asked, “How are we doing, Cricket?”

Cricket popped into existence in front of him. “We just arrived at Rift Central. We’ll be at Rift 32 momentarily.”

Just then, Liyana and Skye led everyone else back onto the bridge.

Councillor Jean had an anxious look on her face as she asked, “New Mazjorca is being attacked?”

Mark corrected her. “No, not yet! The comm relay just went live, and we detected two Destructor ships. Cricket estimates they will reach the planet in about four centares.”

“The Federation will help, won’t you?”

“Of course, but I’m not sure how long it will take us to go through this rift. I’m glad we sent a Sentinel through when we setup the comm relay.”

“Yes, thank you, at least the planet will have some defence.”

“Not necessarily. The Sentinel is huge! It’s still in the rift.”

Cricket popped up. “Based on the comm delay and making calculations based on the size difference. The Sentinel should reach the planet about the same time as the Destructors—but that’s only an estimate!”

That predicament made everyone nervous, so Mark asked, “What about us?”

Cricket said, “We’ll likely beat the Sentinel there—it had a bit of a head start, but we’re a lot smaller.”

Jean asked, “Where are the councillors?”

“They took the shuttle, they are already planet-side.”

“Should we send the Celestia?”

“The Celestia is in the Sentinel getting upgraded, so it’s a little late for that, besides it would likely just get destroyed anyway, plus it’s bigger than the Galatea, so it would be even later showing up.”

Jean said, “It’s just as well the Celestia is safe. We’re going to be relying on our flagship a lot more from now on.”

Skye asked, “Thinking positive, what’s going to happen when we find a direct link to the Federation and the people vote to join the Federation? Are we going to start at the bottom?”

Mark reminded them of what was in the library. “You are free to become a citizen of the Federation, and once you are a citizen, you could apply to join security. We prefer to staff security from the local population, but that they rotated management roles in from other planets. Once you pass the law tests and a short apprenticeship at a rank similar to your previous role, you’ll become part of security, just wearing a different uniform.”

It was a very nerve-wracking four centares until they emerged from the rift looking at a beautiful blue-green planet, that appeared to be more blue than green, but not quite to the extent of Neptune.

The scanners showed the Destructor ships along with hundreds of fighters, who must have been dispatched to take out other ships, since the main ships still hadn’t quite reached the planet.

The Sentinel had not arrived yet.

Skye asked Mark to hail the planet, and soon they were speaking to someone who immediately recognized Commander Skye. “Commander Skye, I’m so glad you are back. With the council and Celestia gone, there is widespread panic right now about the incoming ships that look a lot like the ones talked about in the old stories. I don’t detect the Celestia though, where are you?”

“The councillors returned ahead of us in shuttles. Did they make it?”

The man looked shocked. “Yes, they arrived long ago, but I haven’t heard from them since. Those big ships launched fighters and they’ve destroyed every shuttle and ship around and we’ve had to abandon the space station, but I think anyone fleeing the space station was likely destroyed by those fighters. Do you think the entire council has been destroyed?”

“Councillors Jean and Farley are with us, but there is no time for speculation on the rest! I’m here with the Atlantean Federation. They have weapons that can destroy those ships.”

“Good hunting Commander. Save us all!”

With the communication terminated, they assessed the space around the planet. They detected thousands of fighters and they appeared to be concentrating their efforts on the space station, but also taking out any other ships out of the atmosphere. Mark instructed Cricket to launch the drone fighters to take out the enemy fighters, so the Galatea could focus on the two mother ships.

Unfortunately, as the order was issued, the space station blew up as Councillor Jean broke down and cried.

The ships were just positioning themselves in orbit above opposite sides of the planet; it looked like they had already opened their main weapon doors, but had not yet turned them on, fortunately they also looked like they didn’t have the modifications of the last ones. Staying cloaked, they bee-lined for the nearest ship and unleashed a mass driver into the heart of the beast just as they fired the primary weapon. Fortunately, the weapon stopped almost immediately.

They continued around the planet and found the ship on the other side had also turned on the mining beam. They adjusted course to stay well clear of the underside. Firing the mass driver at close range at the top centre before turning away, wanting to put as much space between them and the ship in case they fired at them.

They breathed a sigh of relief when the mining beam stopped a few microns later. At that point in time, they watched and waited from a distance, having just seen this very scenario at Vanaheim.

It would’ve been better to hit each ship with both barrels, but they couldn’t afford the reload time and the Sentinel hadn’t arrived yet.

Just as the Sentinel exited the rift, the first target ship disintegrated into nothingness. Not wanting to take a chance, the Sentinel headed for the remaining mother ship, but before it could reach its target, that ship also disintegrated.

The crew aboard the Galatea all cheered momentarily until the reality of the attack sunk in and they started worrying about all the lives lost—and what happened to the councillors?

Cricket then announced. “The councillors are OK. They saw the incoming ships were destroying shuttles, so they turned around and went back into the nebula to ask us for help. They’ve been waiting near the embassy. I’ve already informed them that the threat has been neutralized, and that it is safe to return. They just went through the mini gate to Rift 32.”

As they surveyed the spot where the weapon had struck the planet, the hole itself was large enough to be seen from space, but zooming in, they could see an enormous hole bored deep into the planet’s surface.

The beam had struck an island several kilometres off the coast of the nearest land—leaving no doubt that anything on that island was no more. The island appearing as nothing more than a charred lump of dirt and rocks, with a hole several kilometres in diameter. The hole was deep enough that it looked like there was molten lava at the bottom, which could be from drilling down to the molten lava layer, or a result from the weapon itself melting the rock.

Suddenly, part of the edge nearest the shore collapsed and ocean water poured into the hole, creating a massive steam cloud as the water hit the lava and obscured their view.

Skye said, “If we’re going to help, we should head to the Jardini spaceport. With the space station destroyed, anyone that abandoned it would’ve headed to the spaceport. Will the Federation help on the surface?”

Mark said, “Of course! We can probably help with many things. I just don’t have any personnel.”

Mark instructed Cricket to send a message to Annabelle and General Marsbe informing them they had defeated the Destructors, but not before they had begun their attack on New Mazjorca and there might be some damage control needed.

Cricket sent the message as Skye pointed to a spot on the hologram of the planet and said, “This is it. You’ll have to reveal the ship, though, so they can track you.”

As soon as they turned off the cloak, they were being hailed and asked to identify themselves. Skye recognized the man. “Hi Jordy, I’m here with Atlantean Federation and we’re coming down to meet with the council.”

“Very well, Commander, we were worried that the Celestia and the council may have been destroyed.”

“The Celestia and the council are fine. The Celestia is inside the huge Federation ship that just arrived and the council were with the Federation on the other side of the nebula, but are already on their way back.”

They all boarded the shuttle and went down to the surface and were soon touching down in a secured landing zone, likely reserved for the council and special guests due to its close proximity to the main entrance.

The spaceport was an absolutely massive structure that was a lot like the Atlantis terminal, functioning as a hub for several types of transport.

Mark stood at the edge of the ramp, observing the massive spaceport before stepping out onto the ground. Knowing how some of the Mazjik viewed humans, he was hesitant to venture very far. Sure, he trusted the councillors and had his personal shield, Gyges and drones with him, but still...

The Mazjik obviously had figured out anti gravity as he saw no wheeled vehicles anywhere, nor any airplanes with propellers or jet engines. Everything hovered.

Skye joined him and said, “The councillors have just exited the nebula and will arrive shortly. They’ve requested a press conference and asked if you will make yourself available for their announcement.”

“Sure, I’m here anyway.”

Fortunately, there was a shaded area with some benches inside the secured zone, just off to the side of the main entrance, so Mark, Liyana, Gyges, Junga, Jehanna and Skye sat down and waited to be called.

The councillors arrived, landing their shuttle beside Mark’s in the secured zone. They thanked Mark for taking care of the Destructors as several colleagues came out to meet them. Councillor Jean told Skye to stay and escort the King to the press conference when they called, which would be after they heard all the reports.

As the councillors walked away, Mark looked at Skye and asked, “Is this spaceport like a central hub for everything on the planet?”

“It is now! The space station was the government hub, but Jardini was the hub before the space station and has functioned as a backup since, so no records or documents should have been lost and it already has everything the government needs to operate.”

Skye fielded questions about the facility and their technology. Some reporters tried to approach and get an early scoop, but security personnel intercepted them before they could get enter the secured zone. Although they could see a lot of reporters taking pictures of them.

A few centons later, Skye received notice to escort the delegation. A group of security fell in beside them as they escorted them out of the secured area and to a small pavilion just off to the side of the main stairs to the entrance of the sprawling facility that was now the hub of the planet.

Mark, Liyana, Gyges, Junga, Jehanna and Skye were instructed where to stand on the stage.

Once they were set, the man spoke into a communicator and a horn played what must be some sort of signal that the event was about to begin.

The crowd went quiet as the councillors walked out of the complex, down to the covered stage. The councillors stood together on a small two-row riser off to the side of the stage as Councillor Jean approached the podium in the middle.

“Citizens of New Majorca, today we came very close to being exterminated by the very beings that stranded us here so many yahrens ago. The exact death toll is so far unknown, but we know the space station and orbital ship yards have all been destroyed and we’ve heard that almost every ship and shuttle in transit from those facilities were destroyed. Finally, we have also not confirmed if the orbital strikes resulted in any deaths. We shall mourn them once we have processed everything. One thing we know for certain is the only reason you are still alive right now, and the government is still working—is because our new friends from the Atlantean Federation saved us.”

There was a round of applause, which she allowed for a moment and then waved her arms to quiet everyone as she gestured toward Mark. “I introduce to you the King of the Atlantean Federation. Yes, many of them are human, but our ancestors entrusted them to carry our legacy, and they have been doing our ancestors proud for thousands of yahrens—and will no doubt continue to do so for thousands more.

The entire council has spent time with them. They took us to visit their museum at Atlantis on Earth—the planet we used to call Terra—where we saw much of our history preserved for everyone to see. We experienced the wonders of their civilization, which, I should say, has far surpassed our own and even that of our ancestors. They have created a life of peace and friendship where many species live together across many planets.

In that, we have realized we are not our ancestors! We are merely another civilization that could benefit from being part of their Federation. Unfortunately, the nebula is currently our only link to our new friends, which prevents them from direct communication with us and prevents much of their technology from working—except in a basic function. We will work with them to find a direct route which would enable New Mazjorca to join the Federation.