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The boys ported to the camp on East Caicos and immediately went to work recovering the contents of the Atlantean shipwrecks that lay under the thick layer of mud. Their first priority was the raw mineral from which mithril is extracted.
"Let's port the material to the Moon. It will freeze-dry and vacuum-dry and we will have time to sort things out," suggested Thorsten. "I don't see the advantage of porting to Thebes a pile of muddy material."
Suddenly, the Sea of Rain was the site of a growth in mithril concentration, as ten huge piles of the base mineral from which it is extracted sprouted. The water contained within the pile crystallized explosively, as it depressurised and converted to a fine powdered ice.
"Do you think we could put a few Spiders to work in extracting the mithril from the raw material?" asked Harp.
"Sure, in fact, the mandibles of the Spiders can crush the raw mineral, push it into their intake trunk and then the process of differential ionisation could be used to separate the mithril from the rest of the rock. I even suggest we do subsequent differential ionisation for other minerals, including orichalque, gold, copper, iron, tin, and other elements; the more the process is refined lesser loss there will be. And who knows, some rare elements might be lurking in these piles."
"Do you need to create new Spiders, Paschal?" wondered Sitar.
"Yes, we had not planned to use Spiders as miners or mineral processors. These will need to be specialised. And they will be a lot bigger as well. If I'm to create mining machinery, it might as well be worthwhile."
"How long before you get your first mining machine ready?" Thorsten asked.
"Give me a week of free time, brother. For now we need to finish recovering anything Atlantean in the area. I have a bad feeling about this place now that we moved the sphere to Thebes."
"We all do. Let's get to work. Sitar, get the legionnaires ready to leave at a moment's notice. Things could degenerate extremely rapidly."
"I agree, Harp. Get everything out; I'll see to it that Alaric and his centurie move their butt."
As the week went by, more and more Atlantean goods, mostly heavy metals, were recovered. Time seemed to be both short and long: short because the area seemed to ready itself for a major upheaval as more and more cracks appeared and spread at the sea bottom. Meanwhile the search for the Crystal resumed and more Spiders were put to work scouring the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and explore the continental shelf. Four days into the recovery a deep grumble was heard by Typhoon, as he guided yet another group of Spiders and teammates in the recovery process.
«Evacuate the area. Set the Spiders to disperse in the Atlantic! Move it!»
The dragons took to the air while the Spiders began running away from the search area. As the last Spider vacated the immediate area, the top of the empty cave, which once housed the orichalque sphere, collapsed creating a giant geyser and a powerful suction. Had things stopped there, the problem would have been minor, but the sudden shift triggered a submerged landslide on East Caicos which produced a tsunami that began travelling across the Atlantic at near the speed of sound. The powerful wave caught up with the running Spiders, tossing them in all sorts of difficult positions. Fortunately for the Spiders in the Gulf, the chain of islands blocked the tidal wave from reaching them with as much force. It is not to say nothing happened. The tidal wave, considerably reduced in power, did push the sea level twenty feet above normal, flooding long swaths of the seashore.
Yet again, the Minotaur and Edward survived more by sheer luck than by competence: they had been travelling up along a seashore cliff, following an Ancient road when the tidal wave hit the beach, smashing against the cliff and undermining it considerably. Huge segments of the cliff fell into the sea, bringing with them parts of the road. The walk wouldn't be as easy as it had been for the past few days from now on.
«Paschal, the recovery of Atlantean material in the old port is now halted. We have recovered most of what could and were combing over for any missed elements. The recovery of the rest is not worth the risk.»
«It is fine by me, Typhoon. Set the Spiders on a search pattern in the Atlantic from the tip of the southernmost island of the Caribbean moving north.»
«What about those I sent into the Gulf?»
«Add them to the Gulf search pattern. It should finish in a day or two?»
«Yes, the estimate is three days with the current Spiders, if I add those that took to the Gulf for refuge, it would cut eight hours.»
«Ok, let it run to completion, and then add all to the search string in the Atlantic. I have a batch of Spiders ready to send to you, numbering about three hundred. With those reassigned from the Gulf, we should reach the Atlantic Dorsal Mountain range, covering half the ocean bed in a single swipe.»
«By the time I've recovered the dispersed Spiders the search in the Gulf should be over. Have you or any of the others assessed what was recovered so far?»
«No. Most elements are in storage bins on the moon's surface. We are still cataloguing the contents of the orichalque sphere with the help of Samson.»
«Ok, I will get back to Thebes when I finish setting the Spiders into their search pattern.»
«Ian will like that, Typhoon. He wants to go hunt tomorrow night. He's wanting to run a kill down.»
«Those are hard to find!»
«We have a report of a column of orcs travelling along the face of the ice up north from one of our long-range border patrols. He'll tell you all about it when you get back.»
«That may prove interesting. It's been years since we saw any of those.»
***
The next night, Ian, Paschal, Sitar, Harp, Thorsten, Typhoon and a group of dragons, wolves and Pegasuses took off for what was once known as Wisconsin. After an uneventful flight in the setting sun, the group dispersed and began searching for the orc column.
However, things did not go as planned: no trace of the column was visible from the air, and, given the size of the contingent, that seemed very unlikely. Ian asked everyone to regroup at the last known location and hover above it.
Ian dropped to the ground, converting to wolf form as he landed. Immediately, his nose was assailed by the acidic smell of orcs, and he knew he had not been misled. But where in hell was that column?
«Greywolf!»
«Yes, prince Ian?»
«Can you port to my current location? I need counsel.»
«Certainly. Let me put my last pup with his mother and I'll be right there.»
Shortly thereafter, Greywolf ported right beside Ian.
«What is the problem, my prince?»
«I do not understand. From the smell, orcs passed in important quantity in the area, but aerial search has brought out nothing.»
«It does smell of orcs, and it's fresh, dating three days at most. Given the terrain, and the copious amount of flowing water around, they must not be far. Yet you say your party has not found them. Trail them.»
«I tried, but I end up in a dead end. It's like they vanished into thin air.»
«Let's follow the trail. Maybe I'll understand.»
The two wolves began their run, nose to the ground, while Ian's escort kept to the air to prevent mixing their scent with the orcs'. After fifty miles, they met a cliff face, and both wolves converted to macaque so they could climb up the cliff, as everyone knew the ability of orcs at climbing. Unfortunately, as Ian had mentioned earlier, the trail died at the cliff face.
«Can orcs fly?»
«I don't think so, Greywolf. But who knows? We have seen a number of strange things lately.»
«Prince Harp, would you join us please?»
Harp dropped from the sky, converted into wolf form and sat around in the counsel circle.
«I have followed your discussion. I agree with Ian that the orcs can't fly. They have shown no explicit magic, and, from our experience with them, their magical core is so low rocks probably have a better chance of translocation themselves.»
«Then, if it is neither on the ground nor above it, it's below.»
After taking in consideration Greywolf's terse analysis, Harp stood, converted to his human form and pointing to the cliff face with Bata, ordered:
"Revelo es dissimulare!1414 ("Revelo es dissimulare: Latin, Reveal what is hidden.") "
Immediately, the rock face vanished from view, displaying for all to see a long gentle slope that disappeared in the dark.
«Wow! And we thought the orcs were bad workmen! Without that spell, we would never have seen that these cracks were in fact the frames of a door!» exclaimed Ian.
«The issue is also well located. If a hair gets caught in the doorframe, we would naturally suspect someone scraped a knee or an elbow while climbing the face of the cliff, but never that it had been due to walking in it.»
«That is true, prince Harp. Then, if you look at the ground, it's hard, uneven, and in all good sense hides any tracks. If you see a print, it won't last, and you certainly won't be able to figure out how many have passed inside from an external sign.»
«Do we explore the tunnel?»
«No, Ian, I recommend we find the beginning of the trail. It might be good to check that first rather than have a horde of orcs on our back in a tunnel we do not know!»
Sitar's good sense prevailed and the wolves shape-shifted to their dragon forms to fly back quickly to the original tracking point. After a substantial meal generated by the care of Harp, the trail was backtracked for several hours until another cliff face was met. Harp quickly did a revealing charm and this showed another tunnel extending out of sight, deep in the mountains.
«Ok. I'll put in an event counter at both entrances,» decided Harp.
«Why not simply block them?» Sitar asked.
«I do not want them to know we have found their route. It would force them to change it and we would have to redo a search. It was pure luck we spotted them between two tunnels. They must have been delayed and pretty damn nervous! We have an advantage, let's not throw it to the wind by careless behaviours. Let's also hide any trace of our passage, both physical and odour-wise. The orcs probably can smell us too.»
The boys did as Harp suggested and, half an hour later, no trace of their passage could be found. They even removed any trace of their tracking.
«What next, Harp?»
«We try to track the tunnel that is going east. I do not care much about what happens further away from the kingdom, but as we go east, we get nearer to it.»
«Can the spell you used be done without Bata?»
«I never tried, Ian. Given our magical power, I am beginning to wonder if we actually need any focussing tool such as wands or staves. We have done considerable wandless magic and up to now, we never met a situation where we were denied what we asked.»
«I have another point to ask.»
«What is it, Paschal?»
«Was the light that flooded the tunnel visible to those that might have been inside when you did that revelo spell?»
«That is a good question. It wouldn't do to search for tunnels and reveal to the orcs we know their trick in the process. We were very lucky no one was waiting at the doors to exit. Very lucky indeed!»
«Let's fly to the Tunnel that led us to the kingdom, Harp. We can test the question there! After all a revelo applied there surely won't be bothering any orc.»
Paschal's suggestion was accepted immediately. After a quick side-trip to Thebes more to rest than anything else, the group left for the Tunnel's western entrance.
***
It was late evening when the group reached the entrance to the Tunnel. The boys flew over the area and noticed that the valley to the left of the Tunnel was partially obstructed by a glacier.
"That is new. I don't remember seeing a glacier here when we arrived four years ago!" commented Paschal.
"I agree. I lived down in the valley for a long time and there was no glacier in the area," replied Enron.
"The ice cap must be progressing faster than we thought. It's hard to see when you sit on your ass, but with proper intervals, it can show," added Sitar.
"I am worried about the contents of that military vault. Imagine the disaster if a glacier managed to grind the place to shreds and tear the canisters open! They were rusted already!"
"Fuck! Harp's right! This is very dangerous!" exclaimed Thorsten.
"How could it be dangerous? From what you told me the cave is hundreds of feet below the surface!" wondered Typhoon.
"It is hundreds of feet below, but do you know how much ice weights, my dear friend?"
"Water weights nothing?"
"For a dragon, maybe. But the weight of ice is considerable. It weights eight point thirty-five pounds per gallon, and if you put four mile thick of it on a continent, over thousands of square miles, even the continent itself sinks!"
"You can't be serious, Harp!"
"Look at that valley: it's about a mile wide, the glacier is about thee thousand feet thick. Just the face of the glacier is over one hundred and thirty-two million pounds. If I add that the glacier is about ten miles long, a very conservative estimate, admit with me, we have forty-three billion tons of ice holding to that valley!"
"Holy shit!"
"Well, yes, but if that thing crushes the vault, we will need holy cows!"
"What do you mean?"
"We'll be angels and need them to give us their milk for food!"
After a bout of laughter to reduce their stress, the boys decided to camp at the Tunnel and wait for morning to test if Paschal's worries were justified.
The next morning, after a copious breakfeast, two boys moved into the Tunnel and waited for Harp to try his wizardry.
«Are you in position?» asked Harp of Thorsten and Typhoon.
«We are!»
«Starting on my mark! Mark!»
After a few minutes, Harp contacted the boys.
«I see you guys. Is there any lighting change?»
«Visually? No, it's as dark as an asshole in here!» replied Thorsten.
«You have been in one?»
«I've seen yours a lot in the showers and while we run around. I figure it's dark since it's tight!»
«And what about infrared and other light ranges?»
«There is no infrared or ultraviolet light either," replied Typhoon, always the serious one.
«Right. Extend to all light range!»
«Still nothing!» replied Typhoon after a few minutes.
«Can you sense anything in the eleven dimensions?»
«We are scanning.»
«Ok, I see a vibration in the eighth and tenth dimension,» Thorsten informed the others.
«And I detect a vibration in the ninth and eleventh dimension, which seems to be the one allowing the flow of magic.» added Typhoon.
«Ok. Combine the dimensions, and tell me what you detect!»
After a few minutes, the boys replied to Harp.
«We see you guys, and Harp you are as bright as the sun at sext!»
«Ok, let us do a last test. I'll close down and you try to see us!»
Shortly there after, it was the turn of the boys above ground to see two powerful searchlights.
«Ok. I have my answers; return to the surface!»
«Hold it Harp! Guys, translocate to that ammunition depot and check the roof!» exclaimed Sitar. «Set up a full containment field around your bodies and port it before following. Get a reserve of oxygen for a maximum of ten minutes autonomy, and then port right out collapsing the field once you are done.»
Thorsten and Typhoon ported to the first level of the vault, well aware that if a problem were occurring, it would be the first place things would start giving away. After a careful examination, they noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
«There is nothing apparently wrong yet. What do you suggest?»
«Put stress and tension measurements on the ceiling and walls, especially around the entrances. These are the most likely to break down under stress first. Bind them to the vault's magic wards. We are all aware of them and we will be warned of any sudden change as if someone tried to breach the wards.»
«Ok, Typhoon will put strings on the ceiling, and I will grid the walls, doubling the density of sensors on the wall opening on the elevator shaft and staircase. What about the weapons vault? It has an entrance that leads to the outside!»
«I know. I'm trying to figure out a solution. The tunnel leading to the main entrance is right under the advancing ice front. I think that we could limit ourselves to installing sensors in the tunnel without breaching the vault. If the tunnel collapses or gets overly stressed, we will know things are turning sour for the vault. What do you think of this idea, Enron?»
«That is part of the solution, I think. Paschal? Could we sacrifice a Spider equipped with chemical, bacteriological and radiation sensors?»
«Yes, but what do you want it for? And it's a machine, Enron, not a life form. At least not yet!»
«Well, we could port it inside the vault and leave it there to patrol and monitor the atmosphere. Any change in the vault's contents integrity could be reported well before it reached critical level and posed a threat to the outside world.»
«Ok. I have a spare in Thebes. I'm porting it inside now!»
The boys saw the vault's contents appear in their mental eyes as seen by the Spider, and Paschal slowly set the Spider's patrol path so it would not disturb fragile material, especially the biohazard segment of the vault. The basic radiation levels were recovered for comparison purposes, as well as chemical composition of the atmosphere and bio contaminants.
«Ok, guys, Thebes, here we come. I need a bath!» ordered Ian.
«We all do! I would make a lady skunk run for hiding!»
«Talk for yourself, Paschal! It's not our fault you are sweating testosterone!»
***
The next few days were spent tracking the orcs' tunnels, which proved to be very extensive. They had been very busy, and there were apparently huge concentrations of orcs all along the western border of the kingdom.
"I wonder what they are waiting for?» Harold asked the others. «They have more than enough to flood our defences on the western front!"
"I wish I knew," commented Samson. "Does anyone have a suggestion?"
"If it is not reinforcements, which do seem to be flowing in regularly anyway, then it's because they are either doing something we have not detected on the western border or it's happening elsewhere, dad."
"Sitar's comment is on the dot. Harp, can you scan the northern border?"
"I have begun, but so far, I have seen nothing in the rock formations."
"Look in the ice!"
"What do you mean, look in the ice, son?" asked Diamondcutter.
"Well, ice may move, and be less solid, but it is amenable to digging for tunnels! The only thing the orcs have to do is keep a tunnel constantly refreshed, and from what we understand, it's not cockroach power that's missing!"
"Damn! That's what I was seeing in the western glaciers! These fuckers are using the glaciers to cross the magic barrier! I couldn't possibly halt a natural process and I had to make it so the glaciers could flow freely!"
"Does the barrier extend below ground level, Harp?"
"Yes, for about a hundred feet. But with the extensive tunnel system we have discovered, they could well have run under it in the areas where there is no ice to help them. They use ice as the least resistance path!"
"Ok, This is what you will do, boys. Paschal and Harp will map the tunnels on the western frontier, including, and I insist, depth and those that seem to be in the ice. Thorsten, Typhoon, Ian and Diamondcutter, you will find and map the tunnels found on the northern frontier. Sitar, Samson, take seven dragons with you! You are to locate and map the tunnels on the Eastern frontier. Enron, take seven dragons and handle the southern frontier. When is the Dunbar, Williams and Yamato expedition due back?"
"Let's see. They are due in a week. The collecting process in the mountainous regions of Papua-New Guinea is slow and painstaking. They should be done tomorrow, but they want to do New Zealand and the Samoa Islands before returning."
"Where lies the difficulty?"
"In the number of distinct ecosystems, dad. Each isolated valley is an independent system, with its own plants and animals. And Papua-New Guinea is rife with volcanic valleys that have no contact between each other."
"Oh, I see. Will the two project run out of space before we finish recovering all we can?"
"Not by a far shot, dad, especially since we maintain the species separation artificially, so they can be in close proximity without any chance of contaminating each other, of competing for resources, or of genetic mingling."
"Thank you for the update, Enron."
"How many are involved in that expedition, Enron?"
"Twenty native dragons, a hundred Pegasuses, and forty Unicorns, plus about fifty wolves, a thousand or so fairies who handle plant collecting, and two hundred dwarfs. We also have five centuries of elves in charge of ground protection."
"This isn't a small expedition, son."
"It is given the size of the expedition that scoured Australia. And Paschal and I, when we have some free time, are planning the African expedition that should go up the Nile, and cross into the Congo basin from the African great lakes."
"What do you mean by this is a small expedition?"
"We do not expect orc activity, or if there is any, it seems limited. On the other hand the African expedition will be headed in known orc territory, where we expect considerable opposition. I plan to multiply the expeditionary force by ten, with another one hidden in the background!"
"That will bring the total to what, forty thousand two hundred?"
"Somewhere around that."
"Won't that put a dent in our defences?"
"Hardly, dad. Since the arrival of the humans in our midst, it's like we started to compete with the orcs for the fertility trophy. I happened to fall on the latest statistics, and double births are almost the norm."
"Well, even then..."
"Dad, when I say that multiple births are the norm, I also imply the survival rate of our newborns is almost a hundred percent, which was far from the case before! And you seem to discount the other species. It seems the Centaurs, Fairies, Unicorns, Dwarves, Dragons, Equines and Canines have followed suit. The Humans themselves are now more likely to give birth to twins than singletons!"
"What numbers are we looking at?"
"It's a baby boom, if you want to know. And given how a third of them have reached four years old and run around with knives, swords, and staves, axes and anything that can cut or trounce, the result is rather impressive. The birth boom probably started just after the arrival of our liege Lord, dad."
"Come on! From the way you say things Enron, I must have been dipping in every honey pot!" exploded Harold.
"Oh! Sorry! That's not what I meant!"
"What do you mean, then!"
"I think your arrival triggered a change in fertility by way of magic. Our birth rate was dismal before your arrival, but as your magic has spread within the kingdom, everything seems to have taken a kick in the rear to move a lot faster."
"What does it have to do with birth rate?"
"To be honest, Harold, we were dying out!" explained Samson. "We lived long, but the number of deaths still outweighed our rate of birth."
"Now we have taken to the high speed. I doubt it will affect our life expectancy, except if we get killed during the war, but what did change is that not only did the number of families with children explode, but multiple births as well."
"You still haven't given me a number?"
"Ok. Before your arrival we were somewhere around two million, all ages combined. Sit tight. The number of Elves had tripled in the last three years. We are now ten million or so. And it's far from over!"
"Enron, that doesn't make sense!"
"It does, dad, if every family has been having triplets! You are the exception, since you aren't paired off!"
"Triplets? You mean three children over three years?"
"No dad, three children per birth!" and it's repeated itself over the last three years. Families of nine or more children, unheard of before, are now the norm!"
"That sounds like nature planning a war effort, if you want to hear my viewpoint."
"What do you mean, Sitar?"
"I read that during war times, the number of births exploded for the Ancients. The bigger the war, the bigger the birth explosion."
"That's interesting. And when did the birth explosion occur? Before, during, or after the war was over?"
"Generally, right after it was finished. And I can explain why too. But I don't think it applies here."
"Well, explain."
"All right dad. During the wars done by the Ancients, it was customary for the males to do the fighting, and sort of sow their oats on the field of battle."
"Don't be prude! Rape was the fruit of victory!" exploded Harp.
"Ok, I wanted to keep your ears clean!"
"Given how many enemies I've gutted, it's my hands you need to wash, not my ears!"
"Get back to the point, Sitar."
"Well, the victorious army having sowed their oats on the field of battle, returned home to their family, and the ensuing return to the conjugal bedchamber was followed by rather long and repeated meetings on the pillow. Both events were intimately linked: first, by sowing the field of the losers with their own seed, the victors thought they ensured that the upcoming generation would be less likely to assail them, and, furthermore, if the losing party was inclined to attach importance to the purity of the line, the new children would constitute a social burden on them, whether they stayed with the raped mother or were thrown on the street. Meanwhile, returning home, the surviving warriors would be satisfying both his legitimate wife, and all those who had lost their husbands on the field of honour, ensuring the replenishment of the population. To the victor go the spoils of war. "
"That makes sense, but how do you say what happens is different?"
"Well, if you notice, our army is composed of both males and females. Then, how many of the valiant soldiers would consider an orc female a war trophy? And third, our allies themselves are having the same phenomenon. I doubt that wolves and horses consider the orcs as potential sex partners either, nor do they go hunt females out of their clan."
"But it does not explain the current phenomenon, does it?"
"No, it does not. What we observe is radically different. The war is not over, by far. Second, the army has never been composed uniquely of one or the other sex; in fact, it's half and half. Therefore there should not be any pressure to create a baby boom, yet there is a huge one in progress. I have come to the conclusion the situation is the result of the sudden explosion of magic, the resurgence of Atlantis to the forefront."
"But how is that possible? First, Atlantis or not, equines and canines have always been around. Second, there is no direct genetic link between these species and Atlantis."
"There, I must say a word," intervened Harp. "We were the ones that created the Canis Lupus Familiaris from the primal wolf. I would not put it beyond our ancestors to have instilled in the canines a bit of us, a tiny bit, if only to give the original a wee kick in the right direction. We also created the first domestic equines. Again, it is very likely we put a tiny bit of us in it. And the insertion of our genetic makeup probably helped the survival of wolves and other canines as well as the equines."
"Why do that?" wondered Samson.
"To hide ourselves in these species. If you put bits and pieces of your genetic makeup in a variety of species, you actually hide yourself in it. I suspect this is why we have the Unicorns and the Pegasuses."
"Would you put the Centaurs in the same boat?"
"Not directly. The Centaurs are recent, well after we vanished from the apparent pool. However, the simple fact that the Ancients succeeded in creating them implies that they do contain a bit of us. It takes a modicum of inbred magic to create that kind of hybrid and get breeders!"
"You have a point."
"Anyway, the result is that we see a giant explosion of births in all our allies. Even the Legions have bloomed like seeds after a rain in the desert. And there is a huge amount of interbreeding between legions, elves, and dwarfs so far. I do not know about Fairies, but there may be, at least from male fairies to females of the other species. I have no idea."
"Why a one way approach?"
"Are you aware of the size of a human baby, Samson? You should! You wiped my ass for years! Compare that with the size of the Fairies!"
"Stated that way, the problem is clear. You also were a fountain, boy! Each time you were stripped for a bath or a diaper change, it was accompanied by a spray that almost flooded the ceiling!"
"Dad!"
"Enron, you started it! Live with the consequences!"
The other boys looked at each other and kept quiet. They all remembered taking care of Ian, and how powerfully he fired off when he was being washed by anyone, including Samantha, his wolf nanny.
"Sitar's observations are important. However he misses a point, a change that has occurred and probably has helped sustain the birth explosion even more effectively than our re-emergence."
"What is that, Paschal?" asked Harold, as the others looked at Paschal with perplexity.
"Have you noticed that most of us spend hours within the fields of one or more of the tessaracts? It can be within the different instances of museums, the Pyramids, or the tessaracts dedicated for the Eden and Ark projects. Some species even live within tessaracts and only leave them to accomplish missions for the kingdom. It might be that living within these magical structures has helped creating the current situation."
"Paschal's point is valid, dad. I never considered tessaracts could do this, but the intense magic involved in them might well explain the situation."
"Ok, what else is on the agenda for today?" asked Diamondcutter.
"We have completed the search of the Gulf of Mexico; the Spiders are realigned on the search grid under the Atlantic. They should start their search within the next hour or so. It can run twenty-four/seven since the Spiders are not likely to get tired. We have not had any trouble with the megalodons lately. They seem to have realized that the Spiders were too tough for their jaws. We have collected a lot of deep sea species already, including some rather strange shrimps that live off bacteria that grow on anaerobic chemistry close to fumaroles at the sea bottom."
"That is good news, Paschal. What else?"
"I have stepped up the production of more Spiders. By the end of the month, I should have another three thousand ready to explore the sea bottom. I will move them to the end of the current line eastward, and get them to move north. I found a log of maritime traffic, and it seems the North Atlantic was one of the most travelled, both by Atlantean ships and by the Ancients. The timetable is as follows: We explore to the north pole with the current Spiders, then they cross into the Arctic Ocean, do a quick scan, which should not give us much, since it was not readily travelable as far as the Ancients were concerned. Once we are done we move the train of Spiders into the North Pacific and spread them along a search line. Meanwhile the line that is currently being built will have done its part, moved into the North Sea, done its job and will catch up across the Arctic to cross into the Pacific behind the previous line. The Spiders will have to cross overland, because I expect the Bearing Strait to be dried up by now."
"That is one heck of a program, Paschal!"
"It's not over. While the Spiders do the North Atlantic, I plan on setting up a parallel exploration line across the Atlantic that should cover the South Atlantic, divide and complete the exploration of the Antarctic Ocean, and then merge to move north toward the Equator as it explores the South Pacific and Indian Oceans."
"By then, I think that the Pacific and Indian oceans islands will have been dealt with by one or more expeditions, dad," completed Harp.
"And how long before the oceans are all checked up?"
"Two years, maybe two and a half. Sorry dad, we cannot do it faster."
"It is all right, Paschal. Do not forget the main goal, that is, the localisation and recovery of the last Crystal."
"That's one thing I'm not forgetting, believe me," Harp told the assembly.
"When do you plan to do the African expedition?"
"Within thirty days, it should be getting ready to port. I have already a list of all members that will go there. Sitar, Thorsten, and Typhoon will lead the expedition. I plan to give a break to the current leaders of the Papua-New Guinea expedition, before sending them back to complete the South Pacific Islands. It will imply a lot of island hopping."
"Yes. Dad, did you and mom have time to consider a name for my baby brother?"
"Yes, Ian. I was looking at famous names. One stuck out in the Ancients' world: Alexander the Great. How would you like to have a brother named Alexander?"
"That would be great dad. I know the name." Ian focussed back in time and exploded in laughter.
"What is so funny, Ian?"
"Oh, in one of my incarnations, I was one of his lover. I sort of remembered that as I explored many of my previous lives."
"Did you give him any child?"
"He was gay, dad. And so was I. We loved each other a lot, but I got killed at the battle of Gaugamela, where he defeated Darius and lay to ruins the Achaemenid Empire. I was one of his Companions, the elite Macedonian Cavalry, composed entirely of gay men bonded by a vow of love and sacrifice. We were bonded by love and flesh."
"Jealousy must have been rampant."
"From the other units? It was certainly the case. But within the unit we were a family tighter than the fingers on a hand. The spirit of unity was such we were as one, closer than brothers of the blood."
"That may explain why I see you boys so tight in the nest at night. It is love beyond love," commented Iridia.
"We share our souls, our body, our mind. We are one, this I cannot deny. Yet it is not lust, it is completeness."
"My Lord, you do not seem shocked by this revelation?" she asked as she turned toward Harold.
"I know what they do, what they think, why they do it, when they do it. They give to each other freely, in total respect of their respective needs and capacities. I am as much part of the nest as they are, albeit not physically present. This is the greatest gift we have received from the bonding with so many Consciences of varied species. We no longer are limited in our perception of things to a limited subset of what is."
"When will you make Alexander's name known, dad?"
"We will do it at the fall equinox, in a month and a half."
"Has anyone inspected the situation pertaining to Francesca, the healer?" asked Annabelle.
"I have paid a visit every day to my bonded," replied her bonded dragon, Manasa. "I have tried to understand her, as per the request of prince Harp and Paschal. There are so many things in the human nature I do not understand. Why is it so complicated to know what is wrong and what is right for humans? Even Iridia's questioning revealed that the Fairies have issues with some things so simple as love and care of the needs of the young ones."
"What do you mean?" asked Iridia, flustered.
"If it helps the young ones to grow, to be strong, to bond, it is good. If they feel good about what they do, then is it good. If it stifles growth, weakens, destroys or otherwise harm, it is bad. This is simple. This is clear. This does not lead to situations were one harms for the better good, which is nonsense, and probably leads to conflict between the search for what is needed and what is taught. I think that this may well be the cause of my bonded's state. She is trying to reconcile the irreconcilable, what she feels is good with what she learned to hate and distrust. Her mind is torn in two, creating inner conflict."
"Your analysis is very well thought out, my lady. I hope Francesca will resolve her internal conflict. She can stay in stasis for as long as necessary to deal with her issues," commented Harold.
***
A week passed, and the boys ported twenty Spiders on the Moon to begin the extraction process from the impressive pile of raw mithril. Things went remarkably well, as Paschal had designed each Spider to work in a chain. The first one converted the mineral into gaseous form, using the Sun as a source of raw energy. Then the gas was ionized, and put through a powerful set of magnetic fields, one per Spider. The result was that each atom was accelerated as a function of its ionic charge and its mass. The higher the ionic charge and the smaller the mass, the faster an ion moved and curved. The result was a total differential extraction of every single atom available, all six thousand atomic variety, including isotopic variations. The extraction process yielded a million point two tons of pure mithril, and five hundred tons of gold, two million tons of iron from the rust that had been the ships, seven hundred tons of silver, about a thousand tons of copper, two hundred tons of tin, and about a hundred tons of varied rare earth metals, all separated into their respective isotopes. The radioactive isotopes were contained in a powerful magnetic bubble, as their concentration triggered a chain reaction that sped up their decay considerably. The resulting decayed state were sent back through the filter and reprocessed, again extracting every element according to mass and ionizing characteristics. For instance, U238 (Uranium) degrades into Th234 (Thorium) followed by Pa234 (Protactinium) then U234, Th230, Ra226 (Radium), Rn222 (Radon), Po218 (Polonium), Pb214 (Lead), Bi214 (Bismuth), Po214, Pb210, Bi210, Po210, and finally Pb208, which is stable. The faster the degradation, the more radioactive an element is. The constant re-concentration process produced by the ionizing filter kepts the disintegration at a high rate as each atom split liberating either alpha, beta or even gamma particles that in turn split further atoms.
While the Mining Spiders were processing the recovered raw ore, the boys carefully began analyzing the other stuff recovered from the port or the sea floor. Numerous artefacts revealed the extensive role of pirate activity in the region during the Spanish Conquest, as well as the astounding number of lost ships due to weather. Even more interesting for the task at hand was the discovery of numerous Atlantean ships buried below the seabed, which carried a wide range of material. The containers recovered, after a period to dry out on the Moon, were brought back to Thebes for further examination.
The result brought to light many components that were part of the construction process of Thebes but which had never reached their intended destination. After careful verification of their state, which was remarkably well preserved given the conditions they had to withstand, those elements that could be implemented within Thebes were set into place under the guidance of Paschal.
"I'm frustrated!" said Harp, as the work progressed.
"Why? We would have to reconstruct these elements otherwise!"
"Paschal, we still haven't found the last Crystal. That's why!"
"I'm not too worried. The Spiders are only beginning to explore the bottom of the Atlantic. And they are damn efficient. They have found over three thousand Atlantean cargos, some of which had been missing thousands of years before the fall of the Baby Moon. I am sure they will fall on that Crystal today, tomorrow, or next week. And I'm sure the Spaniards would have loved to have on hand Spiders! I knew the Spaniards had plundered the Americas, but I never knew that it was this extensive! If they could have moved the continent across the Atlantic to get to its gold more easily, they would have done it!"
"I notice you have a containment field on the Moon. Why is that?"
"The times were wrought with contagious diseases. I just make sure everything we recover is sterile. I thought you had noticed I had done the same thing with Atlantean material?"
"No, sorry. I'm having some issues."
"What kind of issues, Harp?"
"I don't know. Would you mind looking into my mind and see what I mean?"
"Hey, come here little brother. Sit in my lap."
After a few minutes, Paschal exploded in a rich laughter.
"Harp, you are experiencing the first throes of adolescence! Your hormones are kicking in! These sudden strange feelings are normal. Just, if you get in a temper, would you mind blowing up something outside of the Earth-Moon system? We need the next few years to finish up our task! Normal kids are already damn dangerous, with your magic, you are a disaster waiting to happen!"
"Oh, ok. Hey, when do we visit the dwarf orcs and their human sidekicks?"
"Shit! I forgot about them! Let's go see dad."
"Before we go, have you had any news from Dunbar and the rest of the expedition?"
"I expect them back today or tomorrow. They are currently changing tack and doing New Zealand. That area seems to have suffered extensively from the Ancients' intervention. There is little biodiversity. But they have seen a strange animal and they want to capture it. It seems they are having problems finding a nest."
"A nest? Not a burrow?"
"Yes, a nest. It's a flying animal."
"Oh, ok. Well, I hope Dunbar, Williams and Yamato get back quickly."
"Why?"
"I have a feeling something's up. I need to talk to Ian about it."
"I know. I have a strange nagging feeling. Tonight, when we do the nest, we do some collective scan of the future, Harp. I don't like to do it, but this is getting to be a pain, like something really dangerous is lurking ahead."
"I know. That is also my feeling."
***
That night, the nest, which was usually rambunctious, was unusually calm.
"Oh, brothers and sisters of the Dragons," began Harp, "we, meaning Paschal and I, have been having a strange feeling of foreboding lately. Have you had the same feeling?"
"I sure had," replied Sitar to a collective nodding from the members of the nest.
"We are not the only ones, did you look at the dads today? They seemed to walk on eggs, as if they expected the floor to explode at any time," added Thorsten.
"Was that the reason of the frowns I saw on Harold's face all day?" Anbraxias wondered.
"I think so, my bonded," replied Thorsten.
"We all hate doing what must be done," Typhoon commented, "but do what must is our law. We need to join and look into the future."
"Should we go to the Pyramid to do it?" asked Uwibami.
"I do not think we need to be inside a tessaract to do so. After all the Seer of the Elves does not, does she?" Greywolf replied, as he took human form to facilitate exchanges.
"Greywolf has a point," replied Sitar. "By the way, how are you adjusting to the human form, my friend?"
"It's a pain in the butt! I feel cold, I have vertigo from being too tall, and walking is an act of faith on reflexes and muscles I never knew I had!"
"I admit you do look impressive at six foot six, Greywolf. You are an impressive piece of furry meat!"
"Don't make me salivate," exclaimed Timor, who had developed a ferocious appetite as he added inch over inch on both his height and girth.
"When I think you have not even begun pre-puberty, my friend. Your dad will feel shocked when he sees you. By the way, why don't you go see your family more often, Timor? It's not that it's a far walk, since we moved everyone into a tessaract?"
"I want to surprise him. And you are even more my family now. I feel I'm having the brothers I so desperately needed."
"I wouldn't say that to your dad and mom, Timor. They would feel sad."
"I know, Sitar. I know."
"Anyway, let's merge. Given that each of us has a special talent concerning this Seer thing, I want everyone involved. We need to look not too far, but we need a very precise view of what is coming up," declared Harp as he took control of the assembly.
"Ok. Will you be the focal point, Harp?"
"Yes, Paschal. Merge with your bonded first, and then on Jormungandr and I."
Everyone agreed and Harp began the process.
"Jormungandr, on my mark?"
"Yes."
"Five, four, three, two, one, mark!"
"Has everyone merged to their bonded?"
Everyone shook head.
"Ok. Greywolf and Ness, merge with us! On my mark, mark!"
The process was repeated until all eighteen present had merged.
"Empty your minds and relax. We will see what we will see!"
The exploration of the near future proceeded apace under the expert guidance of Harp.