Chapter 27: The lost ones come home

Captain John Stratton was fuming; ever since they had been brought onboard, they have been ignored. Walking back and forth in front of his men, he went over to the door and pounded on it some more.

"Hey out there, I want to talk to whoever is in charge."

Lieutenant Michael McCall sat in one of the chairs, watching his commanding officer pace. He called to him, "John!" Getting no response, he tried again, "Hey Iceman, calm down, they will get to us when they can. You heard the intercom. They are at battle stations. I also think they are limited in crew and that is why I think they locked us in here. We have comfortable chairs to sit in, and they left us food and water. When they can they will talk with us."

John looked over at his wingman, "Mike, I just don't care. I want to talk to these bastards. I need to get back to Vegas and find Beth and the kids. They have been missing for forty-eight hours. I don't have time for this crap." John turned back to the door and hit it with his shoulder.

"John, you're going to hurt yourself doing that."

Suddenly a soft voice floated across the room, "Lieutenant McCall is correct. You will hurt yourself if you continue to do that, and you will not open the door."

John turned around quickly and saw a beautiful woman standing there. His men came to their feet in turn, as they saw the woman. John walked towards the woman, he reached out and grabbed her arms and started to say something. He was shocked when his hands grabbed nothing but air.

Jumping back in surprise, John said, "What the fuck? What the hell are you?"

"Captain Stratton, I am the ships AI, and I am a hologram. Now please calm down, the Captain will see you soon as he can. He is dealing with problems that have global ramifications for Earth and the human race."

John stopped and looked at the hologram, "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. All I want to do is get home and look for my wife and daughters they have been missing for forty-eight hours."

"I am sorry; let me check the police logs and news for you."

Amy accessed the Las Vegas crime computers, and started sifting through the reports. She found a reference to an Elizabeth Stratton. Killed when her mini-van was run off the road into a gasoline tanker. The car was taking fire from a red Honda and it was assumed the incident was gang related. Due to the intense heat, no remains have been recovered.

"I am sorry; Mr. Stratton there is a report of your wife's minivan being chased by gang members. It ran into a gasoline tanker. No survivors were reported."

John went white and he collapsed to his knees. Tears ran down his face as he cried out in pain.

Mike went over, pulled him to his feet, and sat him in a chair, "John, when we get back we will find out what happened."

Amy walked to the replicator, "Scotch, three fingers, neat." The glass appeared with an amber liquid. Looking over at the men, she saw one of them had his name on his flight suit. She called him over, "Lieutenant Barlow, will you give Captain Stratton this glass of scotch, I think he needs it. In fact, let's make it one for each of you." Four more glasses appeared as Lieutenant Barlow came over and gathered up the glasses.

William carried the drinks over and passed them out to everyone, then holding up his glass, "Cap. I am sorry about your wife and kids. I would like to say that we, I mean the squadron are here for you. I pray Beth and the girls didn't suffer, and when they catch the son of a bitch who is responsible, we will be there to see they suffer the worst punishment possible." He then downed his drink in one shot. Patting his commanding officer on his shoulder, he went and sat down and thought about his life.

The doors opened and four Marines came in to the room.

Amy said to the pilots as they stood up, "The Captain will see you now, go with these Marines and they will take you to him. I will be there too."

Amy's image faded away as the pilots finished their drinks and set their glasses down on the table. They followed the first two Marines out of the room, while the last two Marines brought up the rear, escorting them through the great ship.

Down in medical the sleeping gas was sucked out of the beds and the force shields were shut down.

Molly walked over to Jen and said, "Commander, its time to wake up."

Reaching out, she gently shook Jen's shoulder. At the touch, Jen's eyes opened and she sat up with a yawn.

Jen looked over at the canister and said, "Thanks Molly, what happened, why did that thing act like that?"

Molly looked at the canister and said, "Because you were infected with the male seed, the female recognized its scent and went after it. If it could have, it would have found a way into your body."

Jen shuddered at those thoughts.

Walking over to the replicator Molly said, "Computer, uniform for Lieutenant Commander Jenny Thompson please."

The clothes materialized and Jenny climbed into her uniform. Taking her black boots and socks, she sat on the bed as Molly went around and woke the other women, setting clothes and a hairbrush on each bed for them.

Beth woke up and felt more refreshed then she had felt in a long time.

"What did you do to us? I haven't felt this good since I was seventeen and a cheerleader."

Molly came over to the side of Elizabeth's bed and said, "Well basically I had the nanobots scan for any foreign infestations and finding none they went through your system and removed all traces of the blood poisoning you have received from smog, industrial pollution, and cigarette smoke. Anything that would makes your life shorter. They also rejuvenated your blood, bones, and cells.

"Later on, I can go through your DNA and remove anything like cancer, or trace elements of disease or genetic mutations. That is if you want to join us. Now get dressed and Jen, here, will show you around the ship."

Beth started getting dressed in the jump suit, feeling human once more at having clothes on again. Pulling on the socks and shoes, she took the brush and started brushing her hair out. Walking over to her daughters, she gave each a hug and helped them with their hair. Setting the brush down, she looked over at Jen who was now in her uniform, and asked, "Jen, what happens now?"

Looking up from lacing her boots, Jen responded, "I thought I would introduce you to my brother. Since he is the Captain, it will be his decision on what to do, but I am sure we can get you home if you want to go." Leading the women out of medical, they walked down the hallway. Jen points out things as they go, "So Beth, what does your husband do?"

"He is in the Air Force, and I miss him terribly." Beth looked out one of the view ports and saw the moon hanging there in space. "We are really in space, I cannot believe it. How come we are not floating?"

Jen smiled at Beth's question and said, "The ship has artificial gravity generators."

Captain Stratton walked in a daze with the guards down the passageway. They stopped at a door and one of the guards knocked. They hear a voice respond.

"Come."

The guard opened the door, and they walked into the room. The Marine came to attention, "Sir, the prisoners, as ordered."

Ken stood up, as the men were led into the room, "Thank you corporal, and they are guests, not prisoners. Gentlemen, I am Captain Kenneth Thompson of the Terran Federation Battleship Washington. This is my second in command, Commander Tammy White, please take a seat and introduce yourselves.

Captain Stratton stepped up to the table, "Captain, what are you going to do to us?"

"Captain Stratton, we plan on returning you to Nellis if that's what you want. I know you have careers in the USAF and I understand that, but first I would like to offer my condolences on your loss."

"Thank you, Captain..."

"Call me Ken. Now, why don't you all have a seat and introduce yourselves."

The five men take seats and introductions begin. John sat down and said, "Starting on my left is Lieutenant William Barlow; and Lieutenant Michael McCall. To my right are Second Lieutenant Thomas Kincaide, no relationship to the president and Lieutenant Steven Whitedove."

"Now, Captain, what is this Terran Federation you are talking about and why do you have a ship named after one of our states?"

"That is a long story. The short version is that this ship is from the future and crashed on Earth over a thousand years ago. She lay hidden under the Arizona desert until we discovered her by accident. Since I was the first human to come on board the ship I became the Captain of the ship. Now, if you watch the viewer, Amy here will show you what is going to happen in five hundred years."

Ken poured glasses of tea for everyone and passed them out, as Amy walked over to the viewer

"Gentlemen, what you are about to see is going to take place on March 16^th 2498 or at least it did in my time line." Steeping away from the screen, she said, "This is the ship's last battle with an alien race called the T'Lari." On the screen, the T'Lari battleship closed with the Earth and opened fire on the planet. The planet was easy to recognize due to the Florida peninsula and Baja California. Small fighters roar up into space as the stations around the planet are battered into ruins.

The mighty ship turned broadside to the planet and over three thousand warheads streak down on the planet and major cities around the world go up in giant mushroom clouds. The screen zooms into Washington D.C. as the missile explode, the Washington monument disintegrated and the city disappeared into a giant radioactive cloud. When the cloud dissipated all that was seen was a two hundred foot deep, ten-mile wide crater that slowly started filling with water from the ocean.

Time after time, the scene was repeated: Las Vegas, Reno, Spokane, Olympia, London, Cairo, Riyadh, Moscow, New York, and the entire Los Angeles Basin. They all became giant craters filled with radioactive dust. Then more missiles strike and giant poisonous clouds erupt from the explosions. All human and animal life, within a twenty-mile radius, died.

"The T'Lari launched over ten thousand warheads on the Earth, seven billion people died during the attack. This ship along with two destroyers caught the enemy battleship outside the orbit of Mars. We engaged the thirty mile long ship, along with the two destroyers."

The screen changed and showed the Washington attacking the enemy ship with two destroyers ahead of her, running interference. Washington charged between the enemy destroyers along with her two destroyer escorts. Their weapons all fired at the same time and the four destroyers exploded into molten fireballs. The two remaining ships continue to pound each other and the Washington turned and opened up with all her portside weapons. The Washington's opening barrage punched through the giant ship's shields. Explosions walked down the length of the great ship and settle onto the midsection where three rail guns blasted a huge hole into the ship.

Suddenly a giant energy flare came from the enemy ship and a doorway or a portal started to form inside of it. The gravitational pull snagged the human ship and started pulling her toward the enemy battleship. The ship lurched as another laser hit a section of her portside weapons. The rail guns explode and the engines falter as she was pulled in faster. The ship started to turn over from the gravitational pull. The two ships collided and they were jerked upright as they enter the gate.

The next scene was of the bridge and the crew being sucked out of a three-foot crack in the hull. They heard the Captain give the AI her orders and then he was gone. The images shift, and the ship was heading towards Earth, her flanks were burning as she punched through the atmosphere, heading towards the South West of the United States. Just before she hit, her shields came up and the ship plowed into the soft sandstone of Arizona. The sandstone rock was thrown hundreds of feet into the air and crashed back down onto the opening of the tunnel that the ship had created.

"That, gentlemen, is how I came to be here. Less then a month ago, I was discovered."

Ken stood up, cutting Amy off, "Thank you Amy, I will take it from here. Now Earth has another danger, a danger created by a race called the Crytherians. They are kidnapping humans and carrying them to other worlds where humans are used as slave labor and for sexual exploitation.