Galactica: Book 1 - Via Lactea

 

The Atlanteans quickly moved to the Southern continent, intent on finding as many Marsupial survivors as possible. As they progressed, they noticed the terrain had suffered immensely from the war with the Insects. The mining industry had been one of the core productions of the continent, and that had been one reason why some major settlements had been targeted by the Insects. Fortunately, the Insects were barely in the process of installing their first launchers when the Atlanteans had descended on them like locusts on a hay field. When the Atlanteans arrived, the Marsupials were still fighting for every inch of their land and had taken to the scorched earth policy, burning everything before backing out, blowing up mine entrances, and booby-trapping them to the hilt. Some mines had been reopened by the Insects at a terrible cost, but, overall, most mines were still closed tight.

The arrival of the Atlantean delegates was not well received, but their appearance clearly told the Marsupials they were dealing with a totally new set of individuals. The fact that the Atlanteans spoke their language, contrary to the Insects, also took them by surprise. The diplomatic team had added a couple of Marsupials to ease contact with the mining camps’ leadership. One of the Marsupials was part of the original planetary leadership and had considerable weight in establishing contact without bloodshed.

Each contact followed a set protocol: Sudden materialisation in the camp during the day for its shocking impact followed by quick call to meet the camp leaders; then came the introductions, and an explanation of who the Atlanteans were, along with a quick visit to a Repository to prove their point. Once the Atlanteans were accepted for whom they were, they quickly explained the situation and told camp leaders there was little time to move the planet’s surface, including all inhabitants, to a tessaract. There were no by your leave, or any delays of grace offered. In all, it usually took less than 15 minutes to get things cleared up, and the delegation would hop to another camp, leaving their interlocutors in a state of shock at their disappearing act. Eighty camps were visited on the first day on the Southern continent alone. The two Northern continents also received a similar onslaught of Atlantean visitors, spread in four teams since the Northern continents were a lot bigger than the Southern continent.

Any resistance was quickly immobilised, and the most vocal opponents were told by the Marsupial leaders to shove their head in their own arse.

«I did not know Harp had emulators so far off Thebes,» said Timor, a bit taken aback by the rigourous lashing out one such obstructionist got from the imbedded Marsupial leader.

«Maybe tempers are contagious?» replied Zen, «After all, I have had my moments since I met him!»

«But that is the thing! They have not met Harp!» interjected Ovid.

«Maybe bad temper is like the flu: you do not need to meet the original source to catch it but only a carrier,» suggested Mark. «Anyway, back to work. How many did we do today?»

«Let me see. There were eighty sites visited per team, for five teams, for a grand total of 400 sites visited on the continents. We teleported five more teams composed exclusively of Marsupials from island to island, and they too were quick in business, for another 400 sites. They will be called upon to repeat the same trick at sunrise. That will add another 800 sites and represent 63% of the known sites. I think we should begin the port of the biosphere and the surface in two days, since we shall have almost ²/₃ of the population notified of the upcoming changes.»

«Timor, why the rush?» asked the Pegasus.

«It is an Imperial directive. The Emperor wants us out of here as quickly as possible.»

The flying Horse nodded his understanding.

***

"Do you think the Matriarch has finished?" wondered Ian, impatient to leave the area.

"The Moon we dropped her on should complete its orbit in 35 minutes, Ian. Why are you so impatient?" asked Samson, as he eyed the map of the Moon’s orbit around the Marsupial’s planet.

"I have a feeling of dread. Captain Falcor, move us behind the Moon and be ready to pick up the Matriarch at a second’s notice."

"Certainly, my Prince. Thorsten? Move us behind the Moon."

"Okay. Samson? Get me a course."

"The direct line will bring us behind the Moon in seven minutes and 2.21 seconds, at full impulse," replied Samson as he transferred the course to the Helm.

"That is acceptable," decided Ian.

"Engage when ready," ordered Falcor.

On the forward screen, the background stars moved slowly and rotated as Thebes left its station in the asteroid belt and moved forward. The space-ship dipped in the primary star’s gravity well, swung at its perihelion, and caught up with the Marsupial’s planet from behind.

"I have informed the Matriarch that her mission is curtailed for security reason," said Ian. She said she has enough data to explain why the Atlanteans of old were interested in this planet, so we can pick her up immediately. Adjust the trajectory to pass in front of the Moon at a hair’s length from the surface."

"Okay," replied Thorsten. That will add 23.43 seconds to the trajectory."

"Science station? Activate the local gravity well to pick up the Matriarch at .03 seconds of the surface. Apply five Gs for .06 seconds. That should bring her on Thebes’ surface without perturbing the Moon’s fragile equilibrium."

"If I were you, Ian, I would not worry about that. There is a bit of junk that is headed for the Moon from somewhere. From what I detect, it is a disabled Insect space-ship. Unfortunately, we have no clear shot without endangering the Matriarch," came a comment from the Weapons station.

"It seems we never can do what we plan. Thank you, Grey Fox. Establish a firing sequence to disintegrate the Insect ship as soon as the Matriarch is inside Thebes."

"From what I have, the destruction of the Insect space-ship will adversely affect the small icy Moon, composed, from what Science station forwarded, of loosely held blocks of ice and rocks. Any impact of significance will disperse the Moon in its components."

"Shit! Suggestions, gentlemen?"

"Once the Matriarch is safely in, send out a gravitational mine that will bind the matter and collapse it into a plasma. Then we can use Thebes’ capacity to fold space to launch the mass into the star. If we time this right, the Insect ship will be caught in the gravitational mine’s field and get captured." suggested Tarik, from the Science station.

"Can we do that?"

"Yes, but the timing is critical. We have three minutes and five seconds to clear the Moon before the Insect ship hits. We must drop the mine exactly 42 seconds after we pick the Matriarch, which must be inside within the imparted time or she risks being ejected when we reverse the gravity to push the mine out."

"Okay. Helm, rotate Thebes so the Matriarch gets pulled directly inside a cargo bay used by the maintenance Spiders. Open the cargo bay now. We are two minutes from pickup!" ordered Ian.

The small Moon loomed in the front screen, and then on the side-screen as Thebes came within grazing distance of its surface.

"Here is the Matriarch! Gravitational well activated in 3, 2, 1, now! The Matriarch is moving! Guiding her fall to the doors! She’s in! Closing the bay doors!" said the Helm.

"Forty seconds to release of the G-mine!" the Fox informed the Bridge crew. "Countdown every ten seconds!"

As Thebes left the vicinity of the doomed Moon, Grey Fox counted the time backward. "Released!" he reported at zero. "Impact on the Moon in 3.23 minutes! The Insect ship will be less than 300 yards when the mine impacts and will be entering in contact with its surface when the mine activates."

"I am activating emergency impulse for the duration!" declared Falcon, as the Atlantean space-ship jumped forward to get clear of the soon to be created artificial gravity well.

Time passed slowly as the Bridge crew watched the three points converge.

"The mine activated! The matter is sinking into it!" reported the Science station. "Two seconds to plasma ignition! Ignition!"

"Pass in front of the Moon at 650 miles and fold space to force a trajectory change, spiral at 6° into the primary well," ordered Ian.

"Folding will be activated in 4.32 minutes, in the lead of the plasma. We should see the plasma distort from its current spherical shape by the space deformity," the Science station reported.

Thebes quickly changed trajectory and caught up with the plasma while maintaining a neutral gravity well. Four minutes and 19.2 seconds later Thebes created a 500 G gravity well right in the trajectory of the plasma. The bright mass stretched and was snagged into the space groove, falling behind Thebes as it began a spiralling movement toward the primary star.

"The capture is working. Falcor, bring us into the star’s corona in a degrading spiral. I shall deactivate the gravitational well progressively as we get nearer," Tarik said from the Science station. "Once the star grabs the plasma, by overriding our gravity trough for the plasma, we get out of there and return to the Marsupials’ planet."

"Okay. Since I do not want to drop the matter, it will take 135 hours to reach the corona with a constant acceleration of 500 G."

"That is fine, Falcor. I know Dad wants us out of here quickly, but nature can not be rushed," commented Ian. "And the diplomatic team will probably appreciate having somewhat more time to do its work."

The plasma elongated gradually, forming a bright string that seemed to be attached to Thebes. For the Marsupials, the show was spectacular. They knew of comets, but they had never seen a cometary tail so bright it lit the night sky as if the Sun was up. The display was interpreted by the vast majority of Marsupials as a harbinger of an upcoming disaster and greatly helped the work of the Atlantean diplomats trying to convince villages to ready for a move.

***

On Thebes’ Bridge, the Seraphrim Matriarch exposed her finds to Harp, Ian and Harold in the Captain’s Ready room.

«I have found traces of a very rare metal, Saviour of our People," as she eyed Harp.

«It is Ian that saved your Nest, not me, Matriarch. And the other Matriarch we saved from disaster has yet to come out of hibernation.»

«I am not worried about her. It takes time for the heat to penetrate us and reactivate our bodily functions. This is why re-entry is generally hot. The heat seeps in a lot more quickly than the gentle warming you are exposing her to. I prefer it be slow, because she will want to build a nest as soon as she is awake.»

«Especially since I reactivated her eye pathways. She will have to adapt,» said Harp.

«All the more reason for things to proceed at a stately pace.»

«You were saying something about a rare metal, Matriarch?» interrupted Harold.

«Yes. It is the Metal of Creation, the metal of which all matter was derived.»

«I thought it was Orichalque. After all, the three Spiders that triggered the expansion were made of pure Orichalque.»

«I do not understand, my Lord?» asked a confused Matriarch.

«Oh! We never did tell you the story, did we? In short, the Prime Atlantean Crystal that drives Thebes was lost at sea and grew from collecting Orichalque out of control to twice its planned size. In the process it created a time anomaly into which three Orichalque Spiders fell: two unintentionally, and one intentionally. They were compressed to infinite density before blowing up, thus creating this universe. Before that, 87 or so Universes with differing propertied had been created over time by accident.»

«I see. What would be the properties of Orichalque under these conditions?"

«Infinite density, and sudden shearing when it exploded, creating trillions of microscopic particles with the infinite density sprinkled across the Universe... and atom-sized black holes! But it would not return to Orichalque, since it would have collapsed its structure in the process!»

«That are the physical characteristics of Adamentium, my Prince. For a reason yet unknown, there is a high concentration of Adamentium in the crust of this planet.»

«Can you give us some numbers?» wondered Ian.

«Certainly. The average concentration is 1:10⁷⁰⁰; in the crust of this planet, it is near 1:10²⁴. That explains the gravitational anomalies the small Moon is constantly subjected to. It takes very little variation in concentration of Adamentium for an orbit to be affected.»

«That does not explain the rather high concentration of Orichalque,» said Ian.

«We have only Earth as reference, Ian. It may be rarer than that of Adamentium Universe-wide,» replied Harold.

«Orichalque is not that rare, my Lord. It is in fact common enough to explain some anomalies in the distribution of mass in the Universe. The Orichalque we have was the product of nucleosynthesis during the Big Bang, whereas Adamentium precedes it. We never were able to understand how it came to be, but the idea of a Big Crunch of Orichalque producing a plasma of Adamentium until it reached a critical mass would explain a lot. The issue we had was finding where came the original Orichalque, and you supplied the answer. Once the process of converting energy into mass began, it proceeded exponentially until the mass of Adamentium was such it became an unstable plasma held in place by a layer of Orichalque and Hydrogen.»

«That is an interesting concept, Matriarch, and it fits with our own understanding of our role in the process of Creation. How did you ever come to these outstanding conclusions?» asked Harp.

«First, our sensors are such that we can measure the concentration of different atomic families from distances covering a good proportion of the Universe. Second, we have been moving from planet to planet for a considerable amount of time, validating our data. Third, a Nest shares with the Matriarch all she knows about the Universe, and fourth, a Matriarch has a lot of time to think over her own data set and the data sets inherited from previous Matriarchs. Hibernation does not mean we are unable to record information as we travel. In fact, it is essential we do gather the information, if only to be able to detect the proper stream of particles that will eventually lead us to a proper star system, and ultimately to the proper planet.»

«Okay. What now?»

«Dad, it depends on what we could do with Adamentium. What are its physical and chemical properties? Would it be safe to accumulate within a tessaract? Would it become unstable? What uses does it have if it reaches macroscopic volume? There are too many questions to answer for even an educated guess.»

«Ian is right, Dad. And I do not wish to repeat the experience we had with the Primary Crystal of Atlantis,» declared Harp.

«Are you thinking before acting, Brother? The end of the world must be near!»

«It is my foot that is near your butt, Ian!»

«Promises, promises!» replied the unrepentant Ian, pulling a tongue at his big Brother.

«You have 96 hours to find out all you can about that Adamentium, Sons. After that, if it is found dangerous or we have not established its safety margin, it stays behind. Get Thorsten involved. Matriarch, we need your assistance in analysing the metal.»

«I am at your entire disposal, my Lord. The Elves are doing a very fine job of watching the clutch of eggs in the Nest, and I have nothing else to do.»

«Matriarch, we need to extract it in order to analyse it. Can you do that?"

«I can tell you where is the highest concentration of the ore. As for extracting, it raises a lot of alarms in me, telling me we are past the toxicity level usually barring that planet from our consideration.»

«And yet your sister was headed that way.» commented Ian.

«I am aware of that and it troubles me. Maybe she comes from another line that has not met Adamentium and therefore does not know about its toxicity. After all, we learned of it after leaving our Home World. Some in my line were quite sick, and it took some time to figure out why we were so.»

«Do you think she will have issues with the Prophesy?» asked Harp.

«No. That was learned in Home World, well before the Diaspora.»

***

Thorsten and Harp met with Paschal to get some mining equipment to get Adamentium ore. The map of gravitational anomalies described by the Matriarch left no chance to interpretation: the ore was focussed at the equatorial belt, in the deepest oceanic trench, and well out of reach of the Marsupials.

"That poses no problem. The Mining Spiders can sustain pressures well above what those trenches present. How many tons of mineral do you need?"

"Let me see. The Matriarch said the concentration was one part per 10²⁴. So to produce one ounce of pure Adamentium, we need to extract 10²⁴ ounces of mineral. That is, 3.125x10²⁰ short tons."

"Holy shit! And what are the atomic characteristics of Adamentium?"

"If we knew, we would not ask for an extraction, Brother!"

"I get it. You are asking me to apply the residual plasma method I have been working on to find rare minerals. That will take time to get the product."

"We have 96 hours, as per an order from Dad, and we already lost a quarter of an hour locating you."

"Sometimes, I wish I could dare kick Dad in the butt. Guys, I need your help. Harp, duplicate Mining Spiders by Magic. Thorsten, I have the ion filter ready that will remove everything we know and store it in atomic bins. The residual will either be Adamentium or something entirely unexpected. The filter table is on my desk in the mineral resource laboratory. Can you deal with it? I shall be preparing Cargo Spiders to feed the filtering Spiders. Each Cargo Spider will be able to bring 1 million tons to the Ion filter, and each filter will be able to process that volume in 15 minutes or four million tons per hour. Harp, the Mining Spiders can produce 250,000 tons of raw mineral per hour, so you need four to produce 1 million tons and feed a Cargo Spider. To feed a ionic filter Spider, you need 16 Mining Spiders and four Cargo Spiders. We need to materialise... 1020 processing lines! This is nuts! We can not put these things in Thebes. Keep them on the sea floor. Once this process begins, I need to design a residual plasma flux concentrator that will merge the residue in one location from the 1020 production lines. Let us get to work. Dad sure knows how to put us under pressure. Get the others down here. It is an ‘all hands on deck’ situation!"

It was indeed a case of ‘everyone on deck’ as Paschal had so clearly said. Every Mage able to materialise objects were called upon to produce the different Spiders; those that were good at porting then dropped the final products planet-side as the diagnostics came back green. Even the Bridge crew was called up, with a single wolf left there as watch.

"Why do you need so much of that Adamentium, Son?"

"So much? Dad, we want an ounce!" exploded Harp.

"Why not use Magic?"

"Because for Magic to filter out that metal, I must have knowledge of its characteristics, which, may I remind you, we know nothing about. Once we know what it is, then, and only then, can I ask for Magic to do the extraction for me."

"Damn, why is life so complicated? I thought Magic would solve everything."

"I wish, Dad, I wish!"

***

On the planet, the materialisation of a fleet of mining Spiders went unnoticed, save by the Atlantean delegation. They kept to their task, making sure the Marsupials did not get in the mining area. Even with three miles of water covering their activity, the Spiders perturbed the sea-floor enough to create a mud rise that changed the sea colour to a murky brown and the Atlanteans did not want the Marsupials to ask too many questions. Things continued on schedule.

The Cargo Spiders began being ported to a Moon of the second planet that was devoid of atmosphere close to the Primary. The Ion Filter Spiders then used the concentrated solar energy to ionise the ore and differentiate the atoms by using a powerful magnetic field as particle accelerator. Ions were condensed into different pure products, including Oxygen and Hydrogen, itself mixed to produce pure water that got added to Thebes already impressive reserves. The next most important reserve was Silicon, so they had enough to feed the Matriarch’s brood when it finally hatched. Carbon, Platinum and Gold were also collected, as well as several tons of Orichalque and 1,000,000 tons or so of Mithril. A collection of rare earth metals were also added to the strategic stockpile.

As each production line came to its conclusion and were closed down, the residual plasma was collected and re-filtered to remove any impurities. Finally, a microscopic mass of matter was left in the last ion filter, requiring several billion joules to confine within a magnetic bubble. The process of condensation began, as the plasma lost temperature at an exponential rate. The conversion from plasma to superheated gas occurred quite early and posed a number of challenges which required rising the magnetic bubble’s intensity by several magnitudes, as the transition tried to push the matter to a cooling expansion. Yet another surprise awaited Paschal and the other Princes. The condensation to solid occurred suddenly and explosively, producing a very fine dust that collected in the artificial gravity well that had helped the magnetic bubble to do its task. The temperature of the condensate was several trillion degrees, making it impractical to store it in any material container. Several hours later, the temperature reached another unexpected threshold. The dust particles crystallised and merged, dissipating even more heat in the process. After 36 hours that kept everyone on their toes, the material stabilised for good, still hot by several hundred degrees.

The first aspect that became apparent was that the material was of incredible density. The one ounce of the product was so small it would have fitted on the tip of a sewing needle with some space to spare. No container would be able to hold it so it was kept in a gravity well.

The second aspect that showed up was its imperviousness to Magic. No amount of Magic managed to penetrate its structure and reveal its secrets. That shocked Ian and Harp to the core.

"Is it worth it?" asked Harold.

"What is worth it?" wondered Ian, looking at his Dad, perplexed.

"To recover as much of that Adamentium as possible?"

"Dad, to get enough of it to do anything, we would need to remove the planet’s crust to the mantle, and process it. It would take several months. And that is only the beginning of our problems! How would we store it? What would be its impact on Thebes’ overall space-worthiness? Would it allow is to jump universes when we are done? Is it stable in a significant quantity or will it begin to mutate into an unexpected form?"

"Ian’s questions are only a part of the problem, Dad," continued Harp. "What would we put it to use for?"

"I get it! We leave it behind! I just wish we could find out what the old Atlanteans wanted to do with it?"

"We can, since we have their last generation in a tessaract."

"That is true. I must be suffering from old age. Who is Governor for that tessaract?"

"A Dragon, Dad, Colibri’s bonded," replied Paschal.

"Okay. Get in touch and see what he can learn about the issue from them. If nothing comes out of this, we still have the option of using the Collectors to figure out why they made their way here."

Harp popped to the lock leading to the tessaract in question to execute his Dad’s orders.

"Meanwhile, Boys, get ready to port the biosphere of the planet below to the tessaract Harp has set up. We start in an hour. Recall the diplomatic mission. Whatever is left to visit comes up without warning. Typhoon? As soon as Zen is back on-board, he gets a Dragon bonded. We need him shift-capable as quickly as possible."

"Certainly. I have just the egg ready to hatch, and it’s a nice Gold, one of my Daughters."

"Mark and Ovid need their own; they have been sharing with others. I want them to undergo the Ordeal within the shortest possible time."

"If Zen is to be part of it, they need to wait a month and a half, for the Dragonlings to reach enough maturity to fly. I have two Greens due about the same time as the Gold."

"I forgot that. Okay. And I thought Zen wanted a Red Dragon, not a Gold one?"

"First, I have assigned all the Reds to others; second, I think as a King, Zen needs a Gold Dragon, like all other Kings. It would bind him to us more closely."

"When I think in the old days, it was the Dragonling that choose his bonded. Where have we gone?"

"I changed the rules with Tarik’s misadventure. And I bind the Dragonling still in the egg, so there is no contest. It is more dictatorial, but Royalty is a dictatorship in disguise, as you know!"

Harold and the Princes present laughed and admitted Typhoon was right.

***

As the on-board clock marked prime, Harold made its way to the Bridge.

"Harp, begin the recovery of the surface. It is now time."

"Finally. Thorsten, set Thebes in a circumpolar orbit, altitude 250 miles. Mark the passage of the North pole."

"Acknowledged. Initiating orbit change, and circumpolar orbit will be reached in 15 minutes. Mark the over-flight of the North pole."

"Black Wolf, ready porting of biosphere to a depth of 50,000 feet and a width of 500,000 feet, single pass. Port shields walls from the bottom of the trench to the top of the atmosphere as we displace things. AI-6, estimate total port time given these parameters."

"It will take us 4.2 days to remove the biosphere and the thin layer of crust you have decided to pick up, Prince of Magic."

«Lord of the Prophesy?"

«Yes, Matriarch?"

«Would the time frame be affected by the depth of the crust recovery?»

«Basically, no. Magic will do the work for us.»

«Then bring the crust recovery to half again the selected depth please.»

«If you think so. Black Wolf update the crust depth recovery to 75,000 feet.»

«As you command, my Prince.»

«It is done, Matriarch. May I enquire as to why the request?»

«Recoverable Adamentium is located between the surface and that depth. Below, the crust was too soft and it sank to the planet’s nucleus. I figure you plan to compress the crust?»

«Yes.»

«Harp, I get where she’s going! It is brilliant! When the crust is sent into compression, the Adamentium will not enter the tessaract, because it is already compressed. By collecting it during the transit through the compression cycle, we well get the Adamentium without the need to use the Spiders. By the way, what about them?»

«The Spiders have been recalled an hour ago, Thorsten,» Harold informed the Dwarf King. «I know you love these mining machines, and I did not want a cry-baby in my lap for mistreating his toys!»

«His toys? My toys!» huffed Paschal, pouting.

"Just how much Adamentium will we get out of this?" asked Sitar, as he eyed the Defence and Weapons controls alternatively.

"To be honest, I have no idea," replied Harp.

"You better find out. We have enough trouble with one ounce of the stuff. I can only imagine the issues we would have with say 50 tons!"

"That is true. We shall put it in a zero-gravity well as it materialises. Thebes? What is the maximum internal gravitational compensation you can muster?"

"We survived a black hole. I see no issue with Adamentium. It will require some additional energy, but not enough to endanger our mission."

"We are in circumpolar orbit," reported Thorsten. "The altitude is 255 miles and we are dropping to the target altitude at one mile per minute. We shall be in circular orbit three minutes later and reach the North pole in 12 minutes."

Twelve minutes later, Black Wolf began reporting on the installation of the primary cut-off energy field.

"I have the primary field going up as we orbit the planet. The circuit will be closed in 87 minutes."

"I wonder how the life below takes it."

"Half are going to bed, half are getting up. But mobility is minimal," said Iridia, monitoring the activity near the growing energy field. "Animals seem to sense the field and stay away. I hope the Marsupials are as sensitive."

Time passed slowly, until the field closed and lit up brightly, clearly indicating there was now a force field in effect.

"The process of extraction is beginning now, west of the primary field, and the second energy field is activating as it gets set in place, isolating the slice. The forward field is moving slightly over 293 miles per minute, just ahead of the port!"

Below, the surface of the planet changed colour from a healthy life-sustaining palette of colours to a rusty red as air, water, and the thin layer of crust was removed. A second slice was removed as well without much comment being exchanged by the crew.

"We are three minutes from the North pole and our fourth orbit," Thorsten informed the Bridge crew. "I am adjusting the orbit so we stay aligned on the meridian."

Below, another slice of the planet was stripped, exactly 1.3368 degrees off the previous meridian.

"I am deactivating the previous meridian shield. There is nothing left to protect between slice one and two."

"Okay, Black Wolf."

The day continued with more and more of the planet taking on a bleak and desolate look. After 12 hours and eight circumpolar orbits, the night shift took over.

"Seven slices taken care of and no problem. I am sure Typhoon will do well. I like it when he’s on the Bridge. I sleep better," said Harold.

"We all do. But I am not going to tell that to the others. They might feel undervalued, and they work hard to do their best."

"I know Sitar."

"I wonder how much Adamentium we have recovered?" asked Harp.

"I prefer not knowing," replied Harold. "I am sure Thebes is monitoring the issue to the nearest atom."

"If it is an atomic type of material Dad," replied Harp. "And of that I am less than sure."

"What do you mean, you are not sure it is an atomic type? It has to be!"

"It is so dense something is up. And the fact that even I can not detect an atomic structure is a tip off that something is up. We have an ounce, well probably more now, but still, in that ounce I tried to examine, I was totally unable to detect anything. It’s there because the space curvature tells us it is there, but that is the only thing I can tell. We have a lot of work to do to figure our Adamentium."

"What are the options?"

Harp looked at his brothers before answering carefully.

"I, well, we, have to talk about it. As soon as the Marsupials are settled in, I shall be calling on my brothers to merge with me, and probably a good three dozen more, including the Dragon bonded, and we shall study the problem collegially. We shall need a lot of penetrating power to figure out Adamentium, Dad."

"We shall need to contact those Marsupials that now constitute their leadership once we are done relocating them. Will they have noticed anything?"

"No. The force field that keeps the slice separate from the void interfere with their consciousness, in effect putting them to sleep until they are moves into the tessaract. Once within the tessaract, the edges of the tessaract port an individual right to the other edge without the person ever being aware of anything. Since they can only walk, it is unlikely a Marsupial will cover the distance from his wake up point to the next edge in the 87 minutes it takes for a new slice to be added."

"The only critical areas are the poles, and they are empty, so there will be no traumatised Marsupial coming to us complaining he saw his world being sliced up like an orange," added Thorsten to help Harp get the message across to Harold.

"When will we pick up the ones we met down planet side?"

"In two days, Dad. I plan to meet them in the tessaract and give them access to the gate so they can begin the process of becoming Atlanteans as quickly as possible."

"Ok, Harp. Ian, make sure those that have access to the gates are not going to be power-hungry politician wannabe."

"That will require constant monitoring. We still have kept Atlantis One’s population locked down in their tessaract because we are dealing with this type of issue. Power-greedy individuals grow faster than weeds. However, the Marsupial Elders are few and far between so it seems they represent less of a problem. I shall just make sure the problem does not grow unchecked if it does."

"That is fine. Once we are done here, I want us headed for the nearest Atlantis One colony. What is the name of that colony?"

"It was the fifth, and it was named Thermos," Samson replied, after viewing the data screen.

"Thermos? It must not be a piece of cake to live in!"

"I still prefer that to that fictional Vulcan place I read about while consulting the Ancients’ scripts! Deserts and me do not mix well!"

"Deserts and desserts!" said a smirking Enron as he looked at his Dad. "Since you exited the Tube! Every time you smell something sweet, you make a face!"

"I noticed. It has its advantages. I am losing the circumference."

"And your pants! Has it ever occurred to you that you could use Magic to shrink the clothes to a tight fit so you would not look like a walking empty bag of vegetables?"

"Another comment like that, Enron, and I shrink you family jewels to peanuts!"

***

The next five days passed quickly and Thebes got ready to leave orbit. The Marsupials’ planet was now a dead world, with a surface an ugly rusty colour, with a black sky.

"Course set for Thermos," reported Enron, as Samson sent the trajectory to the Helm from Navigation.

"Ship ready to depart, all systems go! External Maintenance Spiders inside and locked. The Internal Maintenance Spiders have fixed all level One and Two faults; level Three faults are 55% done; level Four faults are still being inventoried," reported Thorsten.

"All data collecting from both the Icy planet and the Marsupials’ planet is complete. The inventory is progressing on schedule. All Collectors reported safe and locked in storage," said Paschal. "Engines at optimal."

"Shields at optimal. Weapons charged and active," Sitar added.

"Long-range and close-range sensors working within parameters," said Harp.

"Engage! Move us out of orbit, full impulse," ordered Ian.

The view slowly changed and brought the primary star into view for a brief moment, then the Atlantean space-ship started moving closer to the star as it accelerated and the ship described a gentle parabola to reach the far side of the star and navigate through the thick layer of the asteroid belt. As Thebes left the asteroid belt and passed near a giant planet, some Insect space-ships were seen crashing down in its atmosphere creating a spectacular meteor shower. Further off, the Oort cloud loomed, its shape distorted by the gradually increasing influence of the incoming solar mass, still 20 years away from its close encounter with the primary of the Marsupials. Already, collisions between debris were increasingly common and a few big chunks took the plunge toward either primary Suns. Interstellar dust was already heating up and hydrogen, trapped by the two star’s magnetic field, accelerated and became ionised, giving the background a slightly reddish hue from the photons emitted by ionised hydrogen trying to cascade back to its neutral, less energetic form.

"This place will not be a nice area shortly," said Annabelle as she watched the play of lights produced by hydrogen cascading down to its stable form.

"We are out of the Oort cloud’s most dense area," Enron told Ian.

"Warp nine until we are totally into interstellar void and away from these two beasts. Then you can engage the slip stream."

"Okay."

"What is the estimated travel time, Samson?"

"The star system is 50,000 light years away. At transwarp, it will take us 15 days to reach, Ian. We have to cross the Galactic Bar, and that is a high-density area star-wise."

"How dense?"

"Oh, about a star every 1.5 cubic light-years. It will be either one heck of a dance, or we simply ignore them and go right through the stars themselves."

"I am getting tired of fancy foot-work. Go right through, Enron."

"Okay. I hope you are aware that we shall not pass unnoticed? I can just imagine some far-away astronomer trying to explain a cascade of exploding stars that were yet too young to do so!"

"I do not give a damn. By the time the light from this arrow of death reaches any so-called astronomer, they will probably be sleeping in one of our tessaract, or the stars will have moved around so much the arrow will be broken."

"As soon as you engage transwarp, I plan on visiting the Marsupial leadership and to bring them to the Bridge, Ian. Do you have any objections?"

"No Dad. In fact, get them here before we do enter transwarp. The show of Warp travel and then the sudden increase to transwarp is worth a thousand words in explaining what is going on."

"Okay. Timor? Come with me, please. I shall pick up Jefferson on my way. He needs a change of scenery. Tom, Jerry? Get your Centuries to the gate."

"I am taking Zen to the Dragons nesting tessaract for his Dragonling. Do not expect him around for a month or two."

"Good. Tell him I shall visit him and his bonded to give the Imperial Sanction to the Bond the moment the Magic Bond is established."

***

Fifteen days passed without much to do, except for Thorsten. He kept the Spiders busy repairing level Three problems and completed the level Four inventory of troubles. Thermos loomed ahead in the long-range sensors, and its whitish looks did not go unnoticed.

"The cloud cover is thick. Water vapour must reign master in that atmosphere. I do not see a single break!" said Harp.

"I do not like this!"

"Neither do I, Sitar. I want a Decurie of Mages to drop below, fully armed and invisible. AI-4, use the gravity measurements to determine where continents are. Harp, you are going with them."

"Okay. Colibri, you are with me. Thorsten, Typhoon, Timor, Jefferson, you too. Let me see... Spare-Ribs, Fang Chao, Greywolf, Silver Moon, and... Willie Coyote. That’s the Decurie. Report to FSS boarding deck one immediately. Set the FSS to full photon dispersion. I want us invisible."

The group ran off to reach the FSS boarding deck, stripped (for the few that had bothered putting clothes on) and took a head dive into the FSS suiting pool. Materialising on the surface of Thebes, they waited for the porting co-ordinates as the giant space-ship set in an equatorial orbit at 450 miles off the planet’s surface.

«Ready to activate port in two minutes as we overfly the biggest mass detected so far. It is about the size of the old South American continent of Earth.»

«Okay Thebes. Mental links at all times, guys. Weapons ready!» ordered Harp.

Two minutes on the dot, the Atlanteans found themselves on a glacier, with a powerful wind buffering them and a snow storm that dwarfed anything they had ever seen, Off in the distance they could hear a deep rumble as an avalanche slipped off a sheer cliff to fall down out of sight. The ground, no, the ice shelf shook violently as the sliding snow tore rocks from the cliff’s edge. In the distance, barely discernible, they could see a reddish glow that seemed to increase and decrease rapidly, accompanied by violent explosions that would have made them deaf had they not worn the FSS and filtered out the sound.

"Those things are hot! They are volcanic bombs, with temperatures in the near 1,900° Fahrenheit!" exclaimed Jefferson.

Everyone could detect the thermal signatures by shifting the FSS sensors to the proper range and agreed with Jefferson’s assessment of the situation.

"Where to?" asked Silver Moon.

"We need to go down. The thing is, how do we do it? Visibility is nil, and I do not feel like porting blind," replied Harp.

"Tie up with ropes. We walk. We have no choice."

Colibri’s understanding of nature had grown exponentially over time and everyone understood his idea was the best. After materialising a long rope, it was passed around the waist and between the legs of the explorers, securing them to each other. The group then began the arduous trek down the mountain, walking away from the volcano.

As they walked, the explorers could hear the glacier crack and hiss under the stress imposed to it by its weight and the added snow. Regularly, the ground shook underfoot, revealing undetected crevices and forcing the Atlanteans to walk across narrow and slippery ice bridges. The further they progressed, the thicker the snow storm became as they dropped within the thick atmosphere.

"What was the full description of Thermos the first Atlanteans gave?" asked Silver Moon.

"Guide me while I access the FSS data base. I can not safely walk while reading that report," said Timor. After a few seconds, Timor began the report.

"The atmosphere is 2.2 times Earth density. Humidity levels range from 70 to 100 % relative index. Oxygen at 50 %, the rest is Nitrogen and wow! A hefty 12 % carbon dioxide. The composition is similar to the Carboniferous epoch on Earth. Animals were small, the biggest, a predator, being about the size of Silver Moon."

"That is a small predator? I wonder what they would consider a big one!" said Jefferson.

"Typhoon, maybe?" smirked Greywolf.

"The plants are mostly conifers and ferns. The upper terrain being occupied by huge forests of conifers and the lowlands by immense fern forests that grew to several hundred feet in height."

"That promises to be an interesting exploration. What are the dynamics of the plants?" asked Silver Moon.

"I just looked at the predator list. There are three plants that fall within that category, including one that strangles other plants to eat them up. There is another, much smaller plant that is carnivorous and eats whatever animal happens to walk within range. There are Insects, but not the kind we battled. Most have 12 legs, some have more, and are ferocious individualists. They fight all the time, even during mating. According to the report translated from the Colonists’ data, there are no flowering plants, but a plethora of toxic ones."

"Slow down. I hear something ahead! Lay down!" ordered Colibri

Everyone dropped on their belly and waited. Shortly, a bone-piercing cry was heard by everyone, and a shadow blackened the sky for a little while before vanishing off.

"What was that?" wondered Spare-Ribs.

"It is not in the data base, my friend. The biggest flyers during the occupation were no bigger than an anaemic Turkey." replied Timor.

"We better start progressing again. We have a long walk ahead of us," said Colibri. "Keep an eye for any of those beasts. We heard it coming, but if it comes on our back silently, we might have some bad surprises."

The group made its way further down and finally met the lip of the glacier. A look down revealed the drop to be several thousand feet, and highly fissured.

"Getting down will not be easy!" exclaimed Greywolf.

"Especially since that face seems to be calving regularly. We can not risk being buried by a sudden ice fall. What are our options?" asked Harp.

"I do not think going to the lateral moraines is a viable option. There is one within hearing distance and you can hear the boulders roll down at every avalanche. It is not a safe place to make our way down," said Colibri.

"I suggest we shift shape to Dragons and fly down. Visibility may be bad, but I doubt there is much in the form of obstacles preventing us from gliding down to the valley below."

Typhoon’s suggestion met with approval and shortly the rope was recovered wrapped in a tight loop and put in a bag to be carried down by Typhoon, who shifted and glided away silently. The others shifted one after the other and took off immediately, well aware that the sudden mass of a Dragon on the lip of the glacier was putting more stress on the segment they were standing on.

The visibility was far from perfect, but as they made their way down, the precipitation changed from snow to sleet and then to water. After a drop of 12,000 feet, they could see the valley floor, covered with moss and very short trees of a variety they had never seen before. They regrouped around Typhoon’s gold form and converted back to bipedal form to resume their walk down the mountainside.

"What a dive! If that is the landscape, it was worth the trip!" said Colibri, still dazed from the view he had experienced during the descent.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Harp.

After getting a positive report from everyone, Harp suggested finding a form of shelter so they could eat something in peace.

"And we do need to get out of this area as well. This is an avalanche corridor. It is visible because the ground is scraped almost bare by repeated events of the sort," said Colibri. "Move laterally, and try to find a conifer cover. If trees grow, chances are the snow does not uproot them regularly!"

Timor took the lead, and the group began the very slippery task of walking on wet rocks covered by a thin layer of spongy moss. Rocks rolled under foot, Insects took off in a panic, and streams produced by the ice and snow melts constantly crossed their path. Boulders would come crashing down from above, to be instantly disintegrated by phasers from our explorers. The corridor was wide, uneven, and showed frequent ice or snow packs that were a reminder of past avalanches.

As they made their way under an overhanging cliff, the Atlanteans heard a distant rumble, like a train gone crazy, headed their way.

"Avalanche! Press yourself against the cliff face!" ordered Colibri. Harp added a force field that would project rocks away from them just in time. The cliff vibrated like a drum at a rock concert playing the bass of death. Huge boulders could be seen flying just beyond the overhang, continuing downhill for miles until they vanished from view. Ice and snow fell like a waterfall, piling up just beyond the force field Harp has put in place just before resuming its interrupted movement down the mountainside. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the calm came back, only disturbed by the noise of ice and snow adjusting to its new equilibrium. Rocks still rolled down, but their size went diminishing, if one could judge by the earth’s quakes and reduced noise level.

"Let us take a quick break and eat lunch. We are buried, and the force field is protecting us. Once this is done, we nap for an hour and then get out of here," said Colibri. "Timor, did you see the end of the avalanche corridor?"

"Unfortunately, my view was obstructed by the rise we were crossing and the rain on the other side."

"How far have we walked?" asked Silver Moon.

"I would say about three miles. On the Earth, corridors were much narrower, in the order of a mile or so, but this planet seems to be fond of extremes."

After a good lunch, and an hour’s nap, the explorers looked at their situation.

"If I collapse the field, we get the snow on the head!" said Harp.

"Not to mention tons of rocks," added Colibri.

"Melt the snow first. I think that this will put the rocks in motion again and restart a miniature avalanche. The use kinetics to throw what is left downhill."

"My friend Willie Coyote has a good suggestion. Phasers set to thermal wide angle should do it," added Greywolf.

The process began. The phasers were aimed in a wide arc at the base of the mountain of loosely held snow and quickly a tunnel several feet long and a hundred feet wide appeared, to collapse almost immediately, bringing down with it another avalanche that removed a thick layer of ice and snow from above the explorers. A repeat of the work produced another, more moderate avalanche and a hole on the top that revealed how high the ice had piled up.

"Holy shit! The ice must be 80 or so feet deep!" exclaimed Harp as he saw how high above them the sky became visible.

"And that does not reveal how bad things are below us. Slice the top of the snow now. The water will seep down and the rocks will follow the same path."

The task was dealt with quickly and rocks rolled to lie against the field.

"Harp, it is time to project the rocks out of the way. Start with the biggest ones. That should destabilise even more of them. Do that until we stop getting shelled by rocks."

Harp did as Colibri asked, and projected the rocks at several hundred feet per minute down hill. The noise, even if it was muffled by the the thick layer of snow between them and the down side of the mountain, was astoundingly loud. Meanwhile the others kept melting snow, disgaging ever more rocks for Harp to play bowling with. After an hour of continuous work, the path was cleared to the edge of the avalanche, and the explorers made their way along the cliff face, protected by a mobile force field.

As they made their way around another bend, they saw just below them the line of conifers marking the edge of the avalanche corridor.

"That is about 600 feet off to our right and two hundred feet down. Keep quiet once we move out of here. In fact, I suggest we take a Feline shape. You are going to be happy guys. Snow Leopards are the best under these conditions," suggested Colibri as he eyed Fang Chao and Spare-Ribs.

After a quick shift, ten Leopards made their way down and cross-wise gingerly, weary of dislodging any rock, even the smallest pebble. Far to their right, they could hear another avalanche making its way down, the ground under them shaking slightly. As they were closing in, a stronger tremor was felt, and the Cats took to a run, reaching the protection of the forest in a dozen or so giant and gracious jumps. Just in time, it seemed as the snow that had been visible above them began a slow slide down, gaining speed as it progressed.

«Move inside, away from the forest’s edge and downhill as quickly as possible. Keep this shape!» ordered Colibri, "An edge is fluctuant, and nothing stops some boulders from crossing it into the forest!"

Fang Chao took the lead, followed by Timor and the others in line. Closing the troop, Spare-Ribs made sure no one left the selected trail, well aware that stepping out of the line might mean a broken limb.

The group made a quick turn to get as far away from the edge as possible, and then used a stream to progress downward between thick thickets of ferns. Above them, they could hear the trees break as they were hit by whatever hit them, either snow or boulders. The ground shook violently, and rocks kept rolling under paws. The Leopards increased speed and covered several dozen feet at every jump.

Finally, the noise began to diminish behind them, but still, they could see an occasional big rock roll by. The crack of a crashing tree could then be heard as the boulder came to a sudden halt, embraced by the fern’s unforgiving grip. The Felines continued nonetheless, unwilling to stop until they had placed a considerable distance between them and that infernal mountain.

After an hour and a half, Fang Chao slowed down and began a slow walk to cool down.

«What a run!» said Silver Moon. «I had never taken your form, Brothers, and it is exhilarating! I plan to do that often from now on!»

«I agree. It was stimulating. I see a lake down there, but something tells me we need to keep away from it. I have a bad feeling about what lurks either in it or nearby,» added Willie Coyote.

«We cool down and slowly walk around it, then,» said Harp. «Since it is Willie that smells the danger, he leads for a bit if everyone agrees.»

No one objected. Fang Chao had done his job and willingly ceded the lead to the Coyote.

High above them, hidden from view, the same flying animal let out a cry of frustration, Attacking that prey while it was hidden by a forest cover was impractical.

«That flying tank is back.»

«Yes Harp. If I grow hungry, he will be on my plate. I do not like feeling vulnerable!» said Typhoon.

«I plan to keep us under cover as much as possible. There will be no crossing of clearing if I can help it.»

Even Typhoon agreed that caution was the best part of valour and followed the Coyote as it led them around the lake, staying well within the forest cover.