Chapter 59

  The morning had come. After a long night of intimacy, Amos, Reva, Freya and Egeria had finally fell asleep.

  Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

  Amos rolled over in bed after hearing a knock at the door.

  Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

  "Uhhhhh… coming."said Amos, as he rolled out of bed hungover from the previous night.

  Amos got out of bed, put on his pants, and dragged his feet to the door.

  Knock. Knock. Knock. –

  Amos opened the door to his hotel room revealing an ecstatic Karlan.

  "We did it!" said Karlan.

  "Huh?" mumbled Amos.

  "We Won!" blurted Karlan as he reached out and grabbed Amos's shoulders.

  The time was now 12 noon and the election was officially over. All over Hebridean viewing screens and video monitors displayed the momentous victory.

  "In what will go down in history as a historic upset, the incumbent President, President Peter Hagan, has won his 15th term securing yet another 5 years as President of the Hebridan and Serrakin Federation," said Adaral Hadraig of TCNN.

  "It's hard to believe that the President was down 25% in the polls just two days ago," added another reporter. "Today, after the miracle in the Southern Isles, President Hagan pulled off an election miracle himself, winning a staggering 75% of the popular vote. This one is going down in the history books, Adaral."

  "You're absolutely right Steve. In other election news, the parent teacher's council won the resolution mandating taco tuesday in all state public schools. Also the referendum allowing space weed to be grown in all national parks of the parallel colony of Shannoa passed. Finally, the emergency ballot initiative to join the Lantean Commonwealth has also passed with a whopping 93% of the popular vote."

  "That's great Steve, I can't believe that after all of these miracles, I might actually be getting a pay raise out of this –"

  "Me too, Adaral," said Steve as the feed ended. "Me too."

  Egeria and the girls were still tired so they decided to skip the meeting Karlan had set up with the President in an hour. After showering and putting on his signature Star Trek uniform, an ensemble no longer merely representing Star Fleet but the growing Commonwealth, Amos walked down to the front of the Hotel where a limousine was waiting for him. The limousine was different than most limousines one would find on Earth. It had a sleek black exterior with shiny suicide doors on both sides and in the front of the limo flew two small flags of the Hebridan and Serrakin Federation. What was most shocking about this limousine, however, was that the vehicle could fly. They would need to fly where they were going.

  "Right here, Mr. Fyree," said the chauffeur as he held open the door to the futuristic limo. As Amos got inside the limo he found himself surrounded by bottles of Hebridan's most expensive wines and liquors which gave off a sparkling allure as the bottles' contents danced around their containers. "Wish Egeria and I had one of these last night," Amos thought to himself, still hungover from all the drinking he did the day before. He quickly printed a cup of coffee – black – as well as a chicken and waffle breakfast sandwich as the futuristic flying machine took off for the Presidential Palace.

  As the limousine ascended into the air, Amos took in the beautiful sights of Hebridan's capital city. The thick mechanical jungle was something Amos was accustomed to, growing up in the urban metropolis that is Chicago. The flying trains, buses, and cars, however, he was not. The limousine flew to the northern edge of the city, bypassing not only buildings but flying monitors and levitating viewing screens with the face of Adaral Hadaraig plastered all over them. When they came to the city's edge the limousine flew effortlessly over the turquoise waters separating the small island where the city was located from the rest of the continent. In the distance, Amos could make out another island and in the center of that island, a sparkling palace fit for a king. Along the exterior of the palace were beautiful flowers assorted in various colors. The Palace itself was adorned with radiant white walls, sparkling jewels, as well as large golden domes topping off the building's splendid design. As Amos's limo made its final approach he could see throngs of journalists and media outlets taking position outside of the golden Presidential gates ready to welcome Hebridan's new hero.

  "Mr Fyree!" screamed the slew of journalists outside of the Presidential Palace. Amos walked up the pristine marble steps where he was greeted by President Peter Hagan and an eager press.

  "Congradulations, Mr. Fyree you won!" said President Hagan, as he opened his arms up to Amos in a welcoming embrace.

  "Congradulations to you too, Mr. President," responded Amos as he shook the President's hand.

  The two then turned towards the cameras, took several pictures, then opened up the gold Palace doors and walked inside.

  As the large golden doors slammed shut behind him, Amos was led to a large regal conference room filled with tall stainless steel windows and several opulently designed flags. Fourteen flags flew in this room; fourteen flags representing the different colonies of the Hebridan and Serrakin Federation. Standing in the adorned conference room was none other than Karlan and Freyr who had arrived earlier that day.

  "Why don't you all have a seat at the conference table," instructed President Hagan.

  The three walked to the long rectangular table where the rest of the cabinet were awaiting the start of the meeting.

  President Hagan, standing at the head of the table opened his mouth to address his cabinet, "I just want to take the time to thank Amos Fyree and his colleagues from the Lantean Commonwealth for all of their good works during their time here on Hebridan. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we most likely wouldn't be here in this room if it wasn't for Amos and his team." The members of the cabinet turned to look at Amos, Freyr, and Karlan and gave them a resounding round of applause.

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  A blonde woman, a half serrakin member of Hagan's cabinet sitting on the left side of the table, raised her hand and asked Amos a question, "How did you do it?"

  "Uh, Excuse me?" asked Amos.

  "How did you stop the terrorist from triggering the bomb?" said the stately woman.

  President Hagan chuckled then interjected to clarify his cabinet member's question. "Please excuse secretary Fiona. There have been rumors – whispers – throughout Hebridan that you may not actually be human but a god; one of the human gods our human population still believes in even after we liberated them from the Goa'uld. They say that the abilities you demonstrated in the Southern Isles are not done using technology at all but are supernatural abilities. Frankly, some of our human population, and even some Serrakin, have begun to make shrines to you and worship you as the savior of Hebridan."

  Amos laughed, he had forgotten that humans don't share the same powers he and those in the Commonwealth had. This is one of the reasons why the ascended Ancients no longer interact with normal humans; they were afraid regular people might start viewing them as gods.

  Karlan looked over at Amos who also bore a small grin on his face and then said:

  "You mean this?"

  Karlan outstretched his hand towards a bowl of fruit sitting in the middle of the conference table and picked up a red fruit using only his mind then levitated the fruit to his hand and then casually took a bite.

  "They are gods!" said another Cabinet member.

  "They sure as hell aren't human," blurted yet another.

  Amos and Karlan chuckled quietly as the President and his cabinet sat dumbfounded at the powers Amos and now Karlan demonstrated.

  Finally, Freyr, the most stoic of Amos's team, opened his mouth and said, "They are in fact human. However, recently they have downloaded the Knowledge of the Ancients and have begun to display some of their powers."

  "The Ancients?"asked President Hagan.

  "Yes, the Ancients, the ones who built your new Stargate; the first evolution of the human form,"affirmed Amos.

  "Millions of years ago there was an alliance of four great races, Freyr's race was also apart of it. Another race apart of this alliance were the Ancients. Unlike modern humans the Ancients did possess powers that were indeed godlike. They had advanced intelligence, super hearing, could control the weather and could lift objects with their minds. Eventually, the Ancients evolved far enough to shed their physical bodies and exist as beings of light on a higher plane of existence."

  "Unbelievable!" said President Hagan.

  "Unbelievable, indeed," Freyr responded.

  "That's in fact why we call ourselves the Lantean Commonwealth. Atlantis being the Ancient's capital and Lantean being their true name. Although the Ancients looked nearly identical to modern humans, however, they were millions of years more evolved and explored space while the rest of the universe still lived in caves," added Amos.

  After finishing his mysterious red Hebridan fruit, Karlan chimed in and added, "Recently, on my world, we made significant strides in nanotechnology. The medical nanites that you saw Amos give Cynthia Tynan, for instance, were actually manufactured on my home planet of Orban. What Amos didn't tell her is that those nanites that healed her also boost intellect and store knowledge. They can rapidly enhance the cognitive capabilities of humans."

  "So, you're saying that Mrs. Tynan is not just a cancer survivor, she's now a super genius?"asked another female cabinet member.

  "That's absolutely right,"said Karlan.

  "Not only that,"said Amos. "All over the galaxy the Ancients left repositories holding their knowledge. Before Orban's medical nanite technology, humans who attempted to access the ancient repositories perished because human physiology was not advanced enough to store the immense amount of data in the machine. Now, however –"

  "Now with my nanites, the human brain is more than capable of downloading the repository of the Ancients without dying,"Karlan interjected.

  "I see, extraordinary,"said President Hagan. "If what you say is true then the humans living in our society could benefit greatly from this technology and reserve a greater place in our civilization."

  A Serrakin cabinet member gently cleared his throat then said, "Unfortunately, many of the societal ills Doyle Jenkins, Mack Tynan, and the Knights of Genetic Purity pointed out are actually quite true. Humans, especially full blooded humans, have a hard time acclimating to Hebridan and Serrakin society. It's not that we don't try to include them, it's just that many of our humans are — how do you say— stupid."

  "If your technology can rapidly enhance the evolutionary development of pureblooded humans this could be revolutionary for our civilization and bring many of our people on the fridges of our society back to the forefront,"said an elderly mixed race cabinet member.

  Amos nodded his head in agreement and said, "We also managed to make a batch of medical nanites that can interact with Serrakin physiology as well. This technology, as well as our other technology, will be delivered to you all by my elves starting today. In regards to the knowledge of the Ancients however, I must urge caution. The Ancients took precautions preventing other species tapping into their repositories. We'd have to do some tests to make sure Serrakin physiology can download the knowledge of the Ancients. If not, we could probably find some work around.

  The cabinet and Amos's team continued discussing the future of the Hebridan and Serrakin Federation as well as Hebridan's role in the growing Commonwealth.

  "Yesterday, I spoke with Adaral Haidrag of TCNN,"said Amos. "I told him there might be a possibility of TCNN spreading to other worlds in the Commonwealth."

  A middle aged human and Serrakin man affirmed Amos's statement,"Yes, I saw that. I am the top government liaison between Tech Con and the federal government. It would be an honor to discuss business ventures with you and the other worlds of the Commonwealth. Do you believe that there is a willing market?"

  "Oh yes!"said Amos. "With the exception of the Asgard worlds and Orban, many of the worlds in the Commonwealth are industrial, barely a few decades into the manufacturing age. With Hebridan's advanced technology and industrial base, the federation will have a unique role in building the Lantean Commonwealth."

  "Aw, how so?" wondered the Tech Con liaison.

  "Your levitating trains, enormous skyscrapers, even your giant viewing screens are all technologies that our people need to make the Lantean Commonwealth great,"said Amos. "Not only that, but you are one of the very few space faring worlds that can help connect each and every member of the Commonwealth together. Space ports, transport ships, deep space cargo, even your liquid nitrogen based hyperdrives, all of these things are needed in the Lantean Commonwealth and Hebridan is one of the few worlds that can supply it.

  The members of the cabinet began speaking to themselves and shook their heads in joyous approval after Amos Fyree's fiery words. President Hagan, then cleared his throat and brought his cabinet back to his attention.

  "These are all great words Mr. Fyree, I'm sure Tech Con Group will be more than happy to be the ones who help build your Commonwealth. However, it's time we shift our attention to something more pressing – the Goa'uld war." The rest of the room began mumbling loudly saying "Oh yes," and "Uh, huh" as they all motioned in agreement with the President.

  "Usually this government has a strict policy of non interference on the matter of Goa'uld relations however –" the President took a deep pause to gather his thoughts and measure his next words carefully. "After the next generation Ha'Tak vessel in orbit and the hostage situation on the ground we are prepared to issue a Declaration of War on the Goa'uld in order to prevent what happened yesterday from ever happening again."

  "Here here,"said one of the secretaries as the rest of the cabinet erupted in applause at President Hagan's brave words.

  "Our scientists have already begun analyzing the forcefield generator from the Southern Isles as well as any wreckage that could be scavenged from the destroyed Ha'Tak in orbit. Still, we were wondering what type of defenses the Lantean Commonwealth had and what it could bring to the table in the event of an actual Goa'uld war?"he concluded.

  Karlan looked at Amos, folded his hands, then lifted up his head and said, "We are in the possession of advanced Lantean Warships. These vessels were created in the height of the Ancient's last war over 10,000 years ago. They boast shields and weapons systems that the Goa'uld or any power in this galaxy has never seen before."

  "We also have a fleet of Asgard vessels in the same shape and design as the one you saw do battle with the Genite's Ha'Tak over your planet,"added Freyr.

  "Not only that, but we also are in possession of massive defense satellites that possess the same beam fired by the Samantha on the Ha'Tak vessel. It can automatically fire on incoming enemy ships and can serve as a first line of defense in case any of your worlds come under attack,"said Amos in conclusion.

  As Amos was speaking, a few of the cabinet members began looking outside of the conference room's glass window.

  "Oh my God, what's that!"said one of the cabinet members as they pointed their finger towards the window.

  Amos, Freyr, and Karlan turned to look out the window where a massive city had appeared out of nowhere floating over the turquoise waves of the Hebridean ocean.

  "Ah, we also have those,"said Amos. "That's our embassy. It's a second generation Lantean City ship. It has a shield capable of expanding around your entire planet, advanced drone weaponry, and can evacuate 300,000 of your citizens into hyperspace during any impending attack."

  The cabinet stared out the window, stupified by the host of tiny golden ships flying out from the central tower of Hebridan's new city ship delivering food and other humanitarian supplies to those in need.

  As the cabinet turned back to look at Amos and his team, Amos smiled then opened his mouth and made one final request: "I want Warrick Fin and his crew to serve as emissaries between your Federation and our Commonwealth.

  "Consider it done,"said President Hagan, still mesmerized by the Ancient metropolis outside his window

  "Excellent," exclaimed Amos.

  "Welcome to the Lantean Commonwealth."