Captain Zee would no longer use his 10, he was finally free of that reminder that he was not full Zhian. He had grown accustomed to emotions sometimes getting in the way, but he finally understood why he had them, and dealt with them accordingly.
The captain looked really sharp in his new uniform, and Syra could not hold back the tears. He was her best friend, and he was about to make a maiden voyage, and she was as excited as she was afraid.
Her cargo bay was full of Zhian technologies Syra felt Hannah Reese may need to use in her Reese Revolution. The Ark Royal had no direct schedule of when to return to Earth II, and that was at the captain's discretion.
Captain Zee would make that decision once he arrived on Earth and assessed the situation. He could freely come and go between the planets anyway, and time was no longer an issue or of concern. The captain had time on his hands.
The captain had a great crew assigned to him, and they were mostly just like him. Trexien was referred to as Dr. Trexien even though he was also a bot, he had never had a number assigned to him because of his status.
The captain had a crew of 50 and all had specialties to offer, and they would live aboard the Ark Royal full time. Even though the ship could basically run itself, a crew was good to have so all systems would be visually seen and provided a manual override should it ever be needed.
Then at the last minute, Syra folded under pressure from many who pleaded Ohtrons case. He was not ready to retire to Earth II and perform all those boring duties that had been assigned him.
Ohtron with all his bitrons intact and tucked away in his underside was allowed to board the Ark Royal for the voyage and all cheered! He had served on the planet Zhian, and on Earth on their first arrival.
He had served Syra well, and her success on Earth would not have been possible if it were not for him all those years ago when she first arrived on Earth.
Ohtron needed very little upgrades of any sort and he and his bitrons were quickly coated with the new material and they looked almost brand-new!
Syra waved goodbye as the Ark Royal lifted off in a flash, the sky was filled with wind and then the shields opened, and she hit Earth II’s outer space. Then moments later went on into the wormhole and vanished in an instant.
All the inhabitants of Earth II went back to work. They still had a lot to do to finish building the City of Arteemus, explore the land, study its plant life, animal life, and minerals. The weather on Earth II was about the same as on Earth but still required monitoring from the Zhian Sphere.
Building the Ark Royal had been a huge task and they could now put all their efforts into improving the two cities or colonies functionality and life quickly went back to normal.
Without the large replicators putting out panels, beams and anything else the blueprints called for, they would not have been able to build her as quickly as they did.
Back on the Ark Royal and during the voyage, the ship felt only a few jerks, and the captain heard some rumblings when they burst out on the other side of the wormhole, just above Earth’s atmosphere. There were hovering over the Caldiron Ranch only minutes later.
Hannah, Charles and half a dozen had already jumped in their four-wheel drives and headed for the secret location on the ranch to greet the enormous ship and its captain.
When Hannah finally got to see the Ark Royal, she had nearly fainted from all the excitement. It was several thousand feet long!
Moments later, after the crew disembarked, so did Captain Zee. He recognized Hannah right away from all the visuals sent back to Earth II, and their greetings were formal as she expected them to be.
Once everyone was introduced, the captain instructed his crew to start unloading the most urgent cargo first and that included Ohtron.
Transport of supplies was done by one of the transport pods and done in record time. Crates were delivered by the ranch house, some by the garage and some by the generator building that supplied electricity to the ranch.
The rest would have to wait, and the captain instructed his crew to board the ship and to continue their duties there. Since the captain had no requirements for comfort or anything else, he reported to the command center room inside the ranch house and checked in with Syra back on Earth II.
When Syra saw him in her old command room on the visuals that was when she took a deep breath and relaxed. Captain Zee spent some time reporting in from their quick journey and Syra was well pleased with his report.
After that meeting, the call was disconnected. That is when the captain sat down with Hannah Reese and Charles Cooper for a full in-person report.
Hannah’s whole team was excited to meet the old Zee10 that they had always heard of. He looked exactly like he did some 45 years ago when he first landed on Earth with Syra! The captain knew the Caldiron ranch like the back of his hand and did not need any directions.
Captain Zee inspected the systems set up in the command center and he was extremely impressed. That crew of 27 understood the Zhian technology almost as well as he did although much of it had changed since they had left Earth.
The captain had a direct link to his ship, the Ark Royal, in much the same way he did with the Zhian Sphere ship back on Earth II. So even when he was away from his ship, he was still there.
One of the captain’s tech bots was instructed to help install the new equipment that was not as outdated as some equipment Hannah’s crew had.
When they were shown this new technology and explained how it would work once it was connected to the new power source, it was the first time they felt they had a winning chance against the current administration.
Their old equipment had its own power source built-in but leaving that type of technology on Earth was dangerous. They needed a power source somewhere near just in case the equipment got stolen; it would not do the thief any good to take it without the power source.
“Captain Zee, if you don’t mind me asking, Sir,” Hannah said, “I just need to know why Syra has done so much to save us when all we’ve done is resist her?”
Captain Zee replied, “She fell in love with an Earthling, the man that owns this very large property,” he explained. The captain added, “He gave her twins, Zach who was once President of your United States and a daughter Zoey!”
After a few moments of deep thought from Hannah, the captain spoke again, when he saw Hannah’s confused expression.
“Syra has an investment in mankind, she had an ancestor also named Syra that once visited Earth some 2,000 years ago,” he finished explaining that, “when that Syra was forced to leave, she left a daughter behind,” the captain said.
“Oh, I see! So, Syra is part human then?” Hannah asked.
“No, but her ancestor named Syra had a child on Earth and was forced to leave that child behind and it had Zhian DNA. That is the connection here on Earth!” The captain said.
“It all makes sense now,” Hannah replied and thanked the captain for filling her in on the history of Syra.
Hannah looked over at Charles and said, “I think I know why I have always felt close to Syra, I believe she and I may be related from a long time ago through Zhian DNA!”
Captain Zee directed Dr. Trexien to give Hannah an examination and take a sample of her DNA to find out if she and Syra were in fact related, and this confirmed they were!
It was to no one’s surprise in the room, because everyone knew those two women had shared several personality traits. The two were also natural born leaders and had many other shared qualities.
Dr. Trexien explained that he was the one that witnessed Syra’s twin’s birth 45 Earth years ago. But Dr. Trexien’s age was far older than that, and it did not take Hannah long to realize it.
He had come from the planet Zhian and had seen a lot in his time as a doctor. This, Hannah thought, was a reckoning for mankind. A doctor that had lived in three worlds, possibly more, who knew more than any other in the entire universe of many!
“Have you ever considered staying on Earth to h
elp mankind?” Hannah asked.
“I have not but would if I were requested to do so by Syra,” Dr. Trexien replied.
“Well you do look so human no one would ever know!” Hannah replied.
“Hannah, leave the good doctor alone and remember he is the ships doctor, not yours to steal!” Charles said as he laughed at Hannah.
She was always thinking of what was best for humankind, and how she could help save the human race. That is what Charles most admired about her.
Captain Zee decided after about a week to stay longer. He had concerns that things had quieted down a bit too much, and since he was in no hurry to leave anyway he and his crew settled in.
His ship was on the ready should he need to defend the ranch. But he would defend it without harming a single soul as he was programmed. He explained to Hannah that there are many ways to win a war!
The ranch was getting a much-needed makeover. The tech bots started in the generator house first, and they were now stripping it out and replacing the equipment with a much more efficient power source.
The new equipment was now put into place but still needed the new power source to work, so that had priority over all other tasks at the moment.
Hannah and Charles watched with amazement as the old generator was pulled out and the new equipment put in, and in its place.
Then, an inverter would provide alternating current in the ranch house for all power outlets that were man-made. All new equipment just installed did not need wiring to be powered, but it did need the new power source to work.
When they were finished and all the consoles lit up, Charles said, “This room looks like the command center at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration!
“Well, that was a mouth full Charles! N.A.S.A command center is a particularly good comparison!” Hannah said. That’s a lot of technology we now have at our fingertips.
The tech bot explained that with this new equipment, they had an unlimited power source.
From just one console with dozens of small visuals, they could now see any street corner in the entire United States, all they had to do was tell it where to view.
Another console supplied access to listen in on any government officials, or anyone else deemed necessary. This was done through a variety of sources and resources the new technology had the ability to tie in to, and any official communications or otherwise.
One console Hannah really liked, was the one that she could use to view real-time from high up in the sky and zoom in! The captain had authorized a piece of equipment to be sent to attach itself to a man-made satellite which would provide not only visuals but transfer sound as well.
The equipment hitching a ride on the satellite could not be detected because of its shrouding and would service the command center at the ranch house for as long as there was a need for it to do so.
Every day that passed, everyone at the ranch worked as many hours as they could hold up in order to get everything ready.
Hannah’s goal was to be able to know what the new administration was going to do before they did it. This way, her people from inside the ranch and on the outside could assist her and put a stop to all the chaos.
She knew she had little time to save America from the direction it was headed. There was already a constitutional crisis that was worse than the one old President Trevil had caused. They were still feeling the effects from some of his policies and he’d been out of office some twenty years now!
It was clear to Hannah that if she could not stop the Anderson Alliance Party from a legal standpoint she would do it through Zhian technologies!
That political party got where they were by illegal wire-tapping of many officials and then blackmailing them to do their bidding.
They used every dirty trick in the book including dirty politics and propaganda to turn one party against the other until they were able to move themselves to the top.
It had been nearly two weeks and there had been no threats in the news media against the Reese Revolution, but Hannah knew a new march was coming up in a couple of weeks.
Now, they would be able to monitor those they believed to be responsible for the chaos from the Manhattan March and be better prepared next time.
Back inside the Ark Royal, the captain had his crew working around the clock to monitor any signs of trouble and assist the ranch command center in any areas that they may need.
Back on Earth II, the Zhian Sphere had analyzed every face from the men attacking the Manhattan March and sent all the names, addresses and phone numbers of every single one of them including their credit reports for monitoring.
The CNN coverage of the march had provided some really clear footage, which made all the difference in being able to identify the ones attacking the marchers.
A lot of information came first from facial recognition, then from the FBI’s database and from local law enforcement records that were tapped in too. By compiling a file on each person, Hannah started sending these files to Lawson, the director of the FBI, to start apprehending each one of them.
Lawson often wished he had the resources the aliens had, but they had only allowed a few humans to use them. He certainly knew he reaped the benefits on this case.
Arrests were being made on a daily basis all across the United States. The ones he could not apprehend, because of some law or lack of evidence, Hannah’s team would take care of and they had Lawson's blessings.
Hannah started to work on her podcast every day now. For each march scheduled, the meetings had the podcast on a large screen, and Hannah fired up each group with what she had to say.
With each march, many more followed and Hannah’s members grew in great numbers, but this was not a concern of the new party and they simply ignored it.
Weeks later, more reports started coming in that some in the new administration was planning on wreaking havoc on the streets, and then blame Hannah’s cause. They had decided that attacking the marchers was not the route to go.
Other reports came in that the new party was targeting companies that did not support their administration with threats of destroying those businesses if they did not comply and then pay money to protect them from planned attacks.
When Hannah read that report, that was the moment she felt the greatest fear. It seemed that every time she did something good, they would come back at her with something much worse in order to discourage her and her movement.
Her movement slowly lost enthusiasm, and the march crowds got smaller. Hannah figured that the march was no longer effective, and she would now have to use the Zhian technology to combat the new administration and try to get America back on track.
Every single person that marched in Hannah’s marches now worked to expose the new administration individually and kept themselves out of the public eye.
When the marchers stopped, the new administration began to show overconfidence that the movement had died out and lost its way.
It was then that they started to make mistakes that would expose them for what they truly were when all was said and done.
Then there was another case of Escherichia coli infection, or what was referred to in the news as E. coli, and reports started to come in at an alarming rate.
Over the course of a month it was traced to farms that were in different states and so far there were six major farms where lettuce, cabbage, different leafy greens, celery, potatoes, and carrots were affected.
Meanwhile, many of Hannah’s leaders of her marches started seeking asylum on the ranch. They had been threatened by the new administration to stop prying around in places they did not belong.
At this point, Ohtron’s services were needed. He was then equipped with soil, water, and air sampling collectors. He would use his shroud so that he or his bitrons could not be seen and he was ready for duty.
He and his bitrons would begin collecting soil and other samples from all the farms to see if the E coli could be traced back to one person or persons and so he
launched right away.
Captain Zee had several transportation pods available, so Hannah began setting pickup locations for those that were threatened to get them to safety as quickly as possible.
That evening Hannah and Charles along with Captain Zee called Earth II to discuss the matter further. It was agreed that that project should start right away.
The transportation pods could carry about 50 passengers each comfortably. It would not take long until the first of the refugees would arrive and the Ark Royal was already set up for their boarding.
Syra wished Hannah and her people well and felt confident they would pull this operation off without a hitch.
By morning the pod returned and had made 17 individual stops to pick up its new passengers at predetermined locations. Each person was scanned upon entry and approved for boarding.
Their scans were put into the database and matched up against all known criminals or those known to be associated with the new administration and they all passed.
The Zhian Sphere’s database had collections going back 45 years and the transportation pods scans could process the facial recognition, fingerprints, voice recognition and DNA in nearly seconds.
That morning, Hannah greeted her leaders and gave them a quick tour. None could speak because they had no idea the alien technology was still on Earth much less right there on the ranch where their President Zach Caldiron had grown up on!
They were then transported to the area the Ark Royal was and once inside that area, they saw a shroud and shield turn off for them to board the ship. All this time, another shroud and shield were covering over the entire ranch, so they were still unseen by prying eyes from the sky or land.
It was explained to everyone that once you boarded the Ark Royal you could not go back. To do so would mean erasing memories and that was something Syra was totally against unless it was absolutely necessary, and they had no other choice. What was inside the ship was absolutely top secret.
When that first 50 people saw the ship, there was no way any of them would have not boarded. The operation went as smoothly as possible, and they were all given a tour of their new home.
The Chronicles of Syra Omnibus Page 28
