Chapter 60

  "I wonder how Alfheim is doing, since we left" wondered Egeria as she reclined in her seat on the Samantha Carter.

  "It should have grown tremendously,"responded Freya, sitting close by.

  A week had passed and their time on Hebridan had come to a close and the crews of the Samantha, Skidbladnir, and now the Sebrus were on their way back to Alfheim to continue the hard work of building the Lantean Commonwealth.

  "We're coming out of hyperspace now,"said Michael Jackson, his eyes glued to the con.

  As the three ships emerged from hyperspace the lone silhouette of a ruby world with two moons appeared on the view screen.

  "There it is! Our home!" said Amos, relishing the crimson hue of Mars. "Michael Jackson set a course for Olympus Mons!"ordered Amos in a similar manner to Captain Kirk or Captain Pike from Star Trek.

  Michael set a course for the location of their new colony, and shortly arrived at the glistening city they had now called home.

  "Hmm… this is odd,"said Reva as she went over her controls.

  "What is it, beautiful?" said Amos.

  "The shields are down…" she responded, her curiosity piquing at the monitor.

  As a clear image of Alfheim's Lantean City ship came into view, it was apparent that the shields that once covered the city had now disappeared.

  "Oh ancestors, are they all dead?" wondered Sha're.

  "They can't be! All those poor elves,"mumbled Egeria.

  It was then a sudden beep could be heard coming through the ship's speakers.

  "We're being hailed," said Michael Jackson.

  "Hopefully everyone is ok,"said Freya as she sat panicking in her Asgardian seat.

  With a flash a bright beam of light appeared on the bridge of the Samantha Carter showcasing a holographic image of none other than Natalie Portman.

  "Hello, your majesty,"said Natalie. "It has been many days."

  Amos leaned forward in his command chair and responded, "Natalie, indeed it has! We were worried about you, what happened to the city's shield? Is everyone alright?"

  "Indeed, they are your majesty," said Natalie in a subtle and submissive tone.

  "The shield was draining too much power so we adapted lady Reva's ablative nanites and created a retractable dome that covers the whole of Olympus Mons,"she continued.

  "Not only does the dome protect us from the harshness of the Martian environment but it also has a transparent mode allowing for people both inside and outside of the dome to view the Martian landscape as if the dome wasn't even there," she elucidated. "It can also act as a cloak preventing ships and our neighboring planet from seeing our location.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  As she was speaking a giant golden dome manifested over the whole of Olympus Mons covering not only the city ship but the entire volcano as well.

  "Woah! That's sure is a giant dome," said Amos as he took in the monstrous view.

  The dome then disappeared again and the three crews made their way towards Alfheim.

  Beep Beep Beep. "We're receiving landing instructions,"said Michael Jackson.

  "Ok, take us in," said Amos, his mind sensing yet another adventure.

  Natalie and the home elves prepared a large hangar bay along the circumference of Olympus Mons. As the Samantha, Skidbladnir, and Sebrus disembarked their ships they all were met with yet another incredible sight.

  "Natalie… you've been busy!" said Amos as he glanced around only a small portion of Alfheim's massive hangar bay.

  Situated in rows were dozens of ships of various designs all bearing the Lantean Cross, Earth's very own point of origin, the symbol of the Lantean Commonwealth.

  "Asgard science vessels, Samantha Class." said Freyr as he meticulously analyzed the fleet of ships.

  "Yes, that's right. Our couriers have been using these vessels to deliver technology and supplies to various parts of the Commonwealth,"said Natalie.

  "Hmm, you've also printed Lantean warships," said Karlan as he pointed over to the other side of the Skidbladnir.

  "Yes, and we've begun giving all of our elves the ancient gene therapy and have started training the Command Elves on how to fly them.

  The three crews walked deeper into the hangar noticing all the new things the elves had created in their absence.

  "What are those?"asked Warrick, mesmerized by yet another class of ship.

  "Those are Lantean cruisers,"said Natalie. "They were discovered in a large hangar bay on Valhalla and the Asgard were happy to depart with some. Their drone complement isn't as great as the Aurora class vessel but they boast a bubble shield older and more advanced than the war ready battleship. We've been updating the specs and armaments in line with other Commonwealth vessels and pretty soon they will be as formidable as our Aurora and Samantha class ships."

  The group came to yet another section of the hangar where they saw even more ships hovering in place.

  "Oh my God, are those what I think they are?"said Egeria.

  "If you're referring to the Eurondan fighters then yes, yes they are," answered Natalie with a hint of pride on her face.

  "You mean the Eurondan's came through?"blurted Amos, analyzing the sleek fighters with detail.

  "Yes, they sure did your majesty."said Natalie triumphantly. "General Latoya was more than happy to give us the Eurondan fighter technology after we saved their people and restored their world. We've been busy upgrading their systems adding lantean shields, asgard weapons, as well as a miniature hyperdrive we hope to put on our fleet of Jumpers in the near future. With their neural interface we will be able to launch Eurondan fighters anywhere in the galaxy and be able to control them remotely from Alfheim through subspace."

  "Outstanding!" exclaimed Amos.

  The group finally made their way to the last section of the massive hangar bay where they beheld something even greater.

  "Natalie, what — are —those," said Amos his eyes fixated on the largest ship he'd seen that day.

  "Ahh, these are new designs we created to serve as a carrier for our Eurondan fighters. We call it the Beuriellis class; the Next Generation Lantean Warship. Since the Aurora class vessel doesn't have hangar bays to store fighters, we removed the dorsal fins on both sides of the ship and replaced them with large hangars to hold a complement of 80 fighters. Not only that, but the added hangers drastically increased the surface area of the ship allowing for triple the amount of pulse phaser cannons, asgard ion cannons, as well as Lantean beam emitters. With its armor deployed and shields raised, the Beuriellis class vessels will be our most powerful ships ever designed.

  "This is extraordinary," said Reva. "Simply extraordinary. You've completely outdid yourself, Natalie."

  "Thank you lady Reva, out doing ourselves is our reason for being. Now come, there is much more I wish to show you all in the colony,"said Natalie Portman, a hint of excitement in her voice.

  The large group made their way to a scarlet door of lantean design which led out of the Hangar bay. As soon as they stepped through that door amazement and bewilderment shone like light across their faces.

  "No way, Natalie, how is this possible?" gasped Sha're.

  "This is amazing. This is remarkable!" stated Warrick.

  "No. This is Heaven," added Amos.

  A bright smile grew on Natalie Portman's beautiful face as they stepped out into the mysterious light of a new world.

  "Welcome to Alfheim."