Xlacchan and Xita watched in horror as their world sank, the terrible quakes tearing the island apart. The waters receded from the eruption of the volcano when it blew, rushing away in a massive wave that drowned everything on the mainland to a distance of fifty miles, and went for hundreds of miles out into the ocean deeps, and then rushed back into the boiling cavity that had been Atlantis. The smoke and steam roiled above the cauldron like a monstrous geyser, climbing nearly to the outer limits of the atmosphere, and the priest swore he saw the spirits of his people rise in the pillar and disappear, screaming in the agony of their deaths.

Dorian dared not bring the starship any closer, and they watched from five miles away, circling the place where the island had been. Huge gaseous bubbles broke the surface, the sulfurous fumes bursting free and floating in mustard colored clouds across the madly jumping waves. There was no sense in waiting for more, for their beloved city was gone and would not rise. He banked the starship and flew it toward the mainland to inspect the damage there, and they saw the huge herds of cattle and hogs and the bodies of their caretakers washing out to sea in the fast moving water. The shock waves would rake the land in receding levels until the eruptions ceased several days later, and they could be of no help to anyone until that time. He nosed the craft toward Amil’s kingdom, which would now become the capital of the entire world, out of dire necessity.

The alien ladies had never seen the like. They had traveled the galaxies most of their lives and been to numerous worlds that had volcanic activity forming and rearranging them constantly, but when Atlantis blew apart it was the biggest eruptive explosion they had witnessed on any planet they had visited, and the most destructive. Muchel and Baen sat at the window in the side of the ship and were silent as the craft moved away from the scene, the towering smoke marking the location until they rounded the horizon halfway across the world. Ash was spreading in clouds away from the site, it and the multi-colored vapors caught in the jet streams and wind currents, carrying it to all parts of the globe, to fall like snow in the ancient kingdom of Kasil.

The leaders of the world had been on the starship, and witnessed the loss. Amil, with his personal Sandi, was at his desk scribing the details as best he remembered them, and said to the robot, “How many do you estimate died in the eruption?” After rapid calculation the Sandi told him it’s nearest feasible figure was near twenty-eight thousand on the island, and half of that on the mainland, and Amil wondered how they would ever get over the loss of so many good people. Most of Muck’s technicians and all the factories. It had been pure luck that Muck had such a deep interest in the alien girls, and had come along for the ride when Sonja and her entourage had flown east.

At least the army was intact. The Dragon Legion and their foot soldiers would now be permanently stationed at Lake Fella, in barracks being constructed for them behind the museum that held the dead king and queen. A thousand starships had escaped as the volcano started to erupt, but over a hundred of them had been lost, their pilots engaged in activities too far from the ships to get to them in time. Many of the modern inventions, too, were gone, and would not be replaced, for the banks of computing devices were history. Unless the Elder of Atlantis, now without a job, could reinvent the computers, the appliances that many households were coming to depend on would also disappear. The one stroke of good fortune in that area was the fact that Muck had installed one of the large computers in his flying saucer, so that he always had an office away from home. He told Amil later that he planned to dismantle the thing and use it for patterns to replicate it, but it was a big project that would require vast resources. The king said. “We have them.”

A thousand men and women were put on the project. They had a lot to learn in a short time, but a few of the technicians were still alive and their schooling was rapid. Within months the first of the new computers were in use. They were vastly improved, Baen providing the technology of the aliens, that was incorporated into the already advanced technology from ancient Mars. New starships were on the drawing boards, and Arrella and Jedan were in command of the army of  pilots that would fly them. Based on the old ships that Jedan had flown nearly thirty thousand years before, when Mars was in it’s heyday of space exploration, loaded with the new technology, they would gain control of the stars. The reflector shields were built into every one that came off the assembly line, along with a line of blasters that used the power of the crystals from Atlantis that had been channeled into the rare jewels from deepest Africa. The destruction of Atlantis had been a major setback, but the iron will of the people had made them rebound and bounced them into a fantastic future.

Muck and Baen had fallen deeply in love. She was the first woman he had ever known that was on a level with his intelligence, and they shared in the inventions he had discovered when he couldn’t die. She was quick to see any possible flaw when he described one of them to her, and the improvements she suggested were always well thought out and feasible, and they became partners in a new manufacturing company based in Kasil. Amil had declared that the old city was to become the hub of the new civilization and they would create jobs for the many who were moving into the area by the thousands. As the city expanded, more of the sand was excavated and pushed deeper into the desert, and more of the ancient metropolis was exposed, revealing the extent of the original structures. It began to appear that Kasil had been home to close to a quarter of a million people far in the past, and may once again reach that number.

Dorian had discovered the old city in his search for lost treasure, just five years before, when all that peeked from the burning sands were a few ruined tops of the towers. Amil, feeling that the city should be governed by the man who found it, made the offer but his son by marriage flatly refused. “You are the king, Amil. I had a shot at that in Atlantis, and that part of the world is still theoretically mine. You keep this part of it.” Amil was relieved by the refusal, for he really hadn’t wanted to give it up. His coffers were so full that he had started plans for a new vault that would be ten times the size of the old new one, in a sub-basement of the new palace he would build near the Dragon Legion’s headquarters.

Baen discovered that she was going to have a child. This frightened her to no end, and she told Muck, “I am scared it may be deformed, a little monster, that will be so ugly that no one could love it. You are Human and I am not! It might come out as a serpent or something!” He laughed off her fears, telling her, “There is no way this child could be ugly! You’re the most beautiful creature ever born, and just the fact that you conceived tells me that the child will be too. The gods would not allow such perfection to give birth to something that was not.” “You think I’m perfection?” “You know I do.” He calmed her considerably with that statement, and she and Arrella and Sonja made plans for the event.

Arrella too wanted a child, and her and Jedan tried every night to make one, but the time wasn’t ripe. That was fine with the pair of them, for soon they would blast off leading a squadron of new starships on an expedition across the stars. There were things that only Jedan knew of buried in the ruins of lost worlds that would be reclaimed by their rightful owners, relics of a bygone age that would bring Earth into the Glory that was once the empire of Mars.

Meela was present at the birth, and she was instantly in love with the wonderful child, spending every waking moment in the room where Baen was recovering. It had not been easy for Baen. She was small and fine boned, and the baby had gone full term and a little more. She had screamed like she was dying, in the process, and Meela had been so scared that she vowed she would never go through such extreme torture, but when the baby finally appeared, she quickly changed her young mind. It was a wondrous thing, a magical thing, to see the new life. The tiny creature was incredibly pretty, a girl that had a light down of red hair like her mother, and the light skin of her father. There was no evidence of the scale-patterned green skin of the aliens, and she looked like any other child of Earth or Mars. Her parents named her Jo.

When the babe was just shy of a year old Muck remarked to her mother, “She has the most incredible eyes I have ever seen.” Baen looked sharply at the now walking child. “Jo! Come to mommy, sweetheart.” The little girl smiled at her and ran to daddy, giggling like it was funny, and Baen went after her. She looked at the eyes and shook her head, “Oh, No!” “What’s wrong?” “They are Alien!” “But, Baen darlin’, so are you! She has to have some part of her mother!” “But, they are gold! No child of Earth has gold eyes!” Muck was looking at them again too. “Well, there’s a little green in them.” “Not very much!” “They’re very pretty eyes, Baen.” “They are. But they’re not Human eyes. And her hair is too red.” “Baen, you’re exaggerating! There’s nothing wrong with our beautiful child! I shouldn’t have brought it up. She’s the first of her kind, is all. She’s bound to be different, don’t you think? “ Baen said, “I know. I’m just being silly! You are perfect, aren’t you Jo?” The baby looked seriously at her for a moment, and then shocked them immensely when she said, “Look, ma, I’m a hybrid. Like dad said; the first of my kind. You’ve got to accept me for what I am or may become. At least I don’t look like your dad!” “Jo! How could you know what my father looked like?” “I know many things,” said the baby, who before right then hadn’t learned to talk yet. Muck and Baen looked at each other, and Muck said “She’s smart, you have to give her that.”

The squadron was ready to go, and Captain Jedan and his co-pilot Lieutenant Arrella were in the command ship running a final check before liftoff. Communications with the other starships worked flawlessly. There were two troop transports with a hundred soldiers each and four cargo ships with the twenty eight fighters, all of them of the new design, each one equipped with the reflector shields and new blasters and updated computers. They had undergone extensive training for the mission, working with the Dragon Legion much of the time, in case the Legion had to be called into duty. If so, they would be immediately loaded on the fleet of ships at their disposal at the barracks airfield. No one knew where the expedition would go, other than the first stop, Mars, where Jedan would find the Hall of Records and try to download the contents of the old computing devices that had not been destroyed.

Forty thousand had gathered at the launch site, and had been waiting since before the sun came up for the opportunity to see the sons of Mars return to the stars, to once again walk in the dust of their home world. Many were crying from sheer joy, and the sound they made echoed across the desert sands. They had all worked very hard for this day, the long tedious hours on their feet wearing them down, but now it was here! Dorian had helped Jedan set up a launch sequence that would be a spectacle that no one who saw it would ever forget. The huge transports and cargo ships would blast off one at a time, ten seconds apart, then, seven sets of four starships would depart, again staggered ten seconds apart, and then, the biggest fireworks display ever set off would ignite, lasting a full forty five minutes, and end when the band from Atlantis, saved by the trip to Fella with the queen, played their national anthem for the very last time. It went off just as they thought it would, though they hadn’t planned on the forty thousand people crying like they did when the band played the song.

Jedan was in his element. Most of his adult life had been spent at the controls of a starship just such as this, and that made the three years he had spent marooned, that turned out to be thirty thousand, seem like yesterday. Arrella too had spent her young life as a cadet, then pilot trainee, finally graduating with six years in space to her credit. She would have double that when they returned to Earth. The two day trip to Mars was uneventful, the fleet staying in orbit while Jedan and Arrella dropped down to test for remaining air and temperatures. They found it nearly impossible to breathe the rarified irradiated gas, and had to don their helmets. Jedan notified the fleet of the possible danger on his pocket com, and ordered them to remain in orbit while he and the Lieutenant found the Hall and got the plans and data they needed. He knew right where it had been, and they made their way through the buried city of Eden to the ruined structure. Once there, they had to expend much of their oxygen in the labor of clearing an entry, and then turning one of the machines upright and installing one of  Muck’s magic jewels to power it up.

The lights came on, dim through the heavy dust, and flashed as the machine, cold and quiet for untold eons, warmed up. “This is going to work, Arrella! Quick, hand me one of the blank discs!” She did and he installed it and opened the files he was searching for in moments, and punched the button that would download and burn the information. It was over in seconds, and the machine waited for the next command. He hit the button that told it to go back to sleep after ejecting the disc, which it did. Then he removed the jewel and they left the building. “When we were here a few years ago, we could breathe the air just fine, though it was a little weak. There must not be enough atmosphere left to keep the radiation from space out anymore. How sad.” Jedan said, “We’ll come again, and leave oxygen generators behind. There are many artifacts here that need to be ferried home.” It was painful to him for a second, that he had called Earth ‘home’, and not Mars. He had never done that before, and it felt strange. He told Arrella about it when they had returned to the starship and left the planet to rendezvous with the fleet. Then he smiled and said, “Ah! My home is where you are, sweetheart!” “And mine where you are.” “Yeah,” he said, “we’re sitting in our parlor as we speak.” They had a good laugh over that, then took their place at the head of the expedition and Jedan said over the com, “We’re setting a course for one of Saturn’s moons. Here are the coordinates.” He punched them into the relay and sent them off. Each ship checked in that they were locked, and Jedan opened the throttle.

They couldn’t use the star drive within the solar system because of the many asteroids and shooting chunks of space-borne ice, so it took some time to get to their destination, and while the ship was on auto pilot they played married games to pass the time. “One of these days we’re gonna get lucky,” the flushed girl said, “and have a little Jo of our own.” He said, “We’ll keep tryin’, baby. We’ll keep tryin’,” as he kissed her bruised lips again.

There had been a mining operation on that moon when Jedan was a young pilot, and he had even been here on several occasions, but the dust covering everything was deep, and there were no tracks of Man to be seen. The round miner’s huts, buried under the debris of eternity, had been turned into low unrecognizable mounds, but the grid layout of them gave them away. The fleet landed. There was no air on this barren rock, but they weren’t staying long. They  were after the drilling machine that had been left behind when the alien horde had gone through this part of space. It was mounted on tracks and ran on radioactive materials found on Mars and Earth and any number of other worlds, and the drill itself was a monster-sized beam that would burn through to a planet’s core if left unattended. Jedan thought it might come in handy where they were going, and in the next hut they found a large supply of fuel blocks for it. It was loaded into one of the cargo ships, and they quickly left the dead place.

They aligned the ships with the transports and cargo haulers in the center of the fleet so that they were protected on all sides, and once in formation they set their course for a constellation that was visible to them from where they were, but millions of light years away.

The star drive was engaged, and the stars blurred with the speed of their passing, looking like long bolts of light to anyone who watched. It was hard on their eyes after a short time, and unless one focused straight ahead impossible to make out any detail but streaks of color in the blackness. Jedan said to Arrella, “Look. There is a comet! I have seen that one before. It passes through here in a long loop every thousand years, according to the star gazers. I truly have been sent through time, and that is the final proof.”

“But if you hadn’t been, we never would have met and known such a wonderful love. I can’t imagine a life without you, Jedan.” Again they retired to the berth.

Several days passed in that fashion. Aboard the starship just opposite them, Fream and Sasha were beginning to be aware that space travel was often boring on the jumps from one galaxy to the next, and they talked of everything they could think of to keep their minds off one another. Each starship fighter had a man and woman team, along with the Sandi, an idea composed by Jedan. He hadn’t wanted jealousy to damper the relationship of the crews, and since he had a woman, decreed that each other pilot should be paired with a female. He had let them pick their own team mates for congeniality, for, if they couldn’t get along with each other as friends it would be disastrous. Fream and Sasha had become friends as they took their schooling for the past year, and had both wanted to be the other’s partner. Here they were, in the deeps of space, a little afraid of what they both were secretly thinking of. Finally, nervous as a dinosaur prancing across a bed of hot lava, Fream said, “Damn it Sasha! There is a volcano inside me that is about to erupt! I quake when I look at you! Look at me, I shake like palm leaves in a high wind from your nearness! Tell me you feel the same!” She  didn’t say a word, just took his hand and led him to the rear of the ship.

The troop transports were twelve hundred feet from one end to the other, and four hundred feet wide, the bunks of the hundred soldiers racked in double rows down each  side of the ship, with their equipment stacked neatly in lockers at foot of the bunks, leaving an open area for their relaxation and amusements. Welen, leader of this squad, was a great admirer of the giant Jedan, and was close to him in size, his mighty muscular arms bigger than many men’s thighs. He was in the flight compartment checking on the progress of the expedition, making adjustments in the landing operation plans for the world they had chosen to land on, and was being teased unmercifully by the flight team. Being a much larger ship than the starship fighters it required a larger crew, and this one was all women, the fifty of them hand picked for the job. The main requirement for their inclusion was, of course, their expertise. The other, their fondness for men. All throughout history the armies of man had taken their women along to battle, to still the rage and bloodlust that came over them in the fray. This army was no different. Their tenderness and caring kept the men sane, and they took care of them as though they were still at home. All of them had gone through training to be nurses, and the hand to hand combat courses and blaster instructions. Each one of them could take the place of a fallen soldier if the need arose. Many love affairs blossomed between them and the troops on both of the transports.

Welen was looking over the shoulder of the pilot, his hand on the arm of her seat for balance, and she nudged his powerful forearm with her elbow. “There it is ahead of us, sergeant, our destination. It has a hazy atmosphere, and Jedan has said that the air is breathable but may cause some of us to suffer cold symptoms, a jungle world with many kinds of strange beasts. He said that at one time there was a trading outpost established here, but may long ago have passed into history.” His head was close to hers, and he could smell the perfume of her curly yellow hair. He said, “What?” and she looked sideways at him. “Hmm. Nothing,” she replied with a smile. “We should approach our designated orbit shortly.”

Cathay could feel his body heat, he was so close. She continued to smile, and told him, “I would like to accompany you when we land, if you don’t mind. I know I would feel safe with you near me.” He too smiled. “Why, that would be fine! I certainly don’t want anything happening to our pilot! I will protect you from all possible harm.” She looked at his face, liking the rugged lines, and then into his eyes. The smile was there, too. “I feel better already,” she said, and maneuvered the craft into the line that was forming above the green world beneath them. The scouts dropped through the cloud littered sky with a rush of noise, the burning air screaming from their entry and leaving trailers of vapor from the wingtips in swooping arcs as they descended, the front thrusters slowing them at a rapid rate until their speed had been reduced to a safe level of seven hundred miles an hour. They would make several circuits of the planet to look for signs of habitation or danger, and make their report to Jedan in four to six hours. The troops made their equipment ready, and the flight crews, most of which would accompany them, checked their weapons and armor.

Welen, always ready, came up behind Cathayand helped with the buckles on her back pack, that carried survival gear and food packets and several of Muck’s magic jewels. She looked back over her shoulder at him and said, “Don’t you let anything eat me now!” He grinned, “Well, you are pretty tasty looking. Damned tasty!” “Why, Mister Welen! I believe you are flirting with me!” “Would I do something like that?” “You sure seem to be.” He touched her pretty cheek, “Not flirting. Wishing.” Her fine breast expanded with a quick indrawn breath. “Don’t let me die and you may get your wish.” She dabbed a quick kiss on his cheek and went to arrange the landing with the co-pilot.

He watched her go, the rounded backside filled with promise, swaying delightfully as she walked, and thought to himself, why haven’t I paid attention to her? She is magnificent! He went to the troop compartment and yelled, “Attention! In ten minutes we drop to the planet. Any one of you who crap out on me gets to stay when we leave! Is that clear?” “Yes Sir!” came the bellowed reply, and the troopers lined up at their stations and clamped the restraint in place.

Jedan set his ship down near the nearly invisible trading outpost. The place had been taken over by the surrounding jungles and the only way they found it was by the strong yellow sunlight bouncing from shards of broken glass and metal that lay everywhere throughout the ruins. It had been abandoned for so long that the moldering skeletons they found had nearly been consumed by the loam on which they laid, stained the same color, and only the highest point of them polished and bleached by the sun. “I was here when it was a place full of life, with a thousand people manning it. Everywhere I go I will find the same thing, death and bones.” Arrella took his hand and they waited while the vines and creepers were cut away, and then they went into the command center of the old post.

The skeletons, somewhat protected from the elements, lay everywhere in the contorted positions they had been in when they died, some of them pulled apart by scavengers. Mold and moss covered, they were a frightening sight to the team that went in, and some of the girls couldn’t stand it and went back outside to be sick. Arrella was the first. She had a weak stomach lately, Jedan had noticed. He didn’t know much about how the female body worked on the inside, and thought nothing of it, considering it to be space sickness that would pass.

Whoever had killed the traders and looted the place had only taken what they could turn into quick reward, leaving much of the equipment and personal belongings intact. This was scattered recklessly, and the mess made walking through the area treacherous to the unwary. The floor had been weakened by time and decay, and as the bodies had decomposed their fluids had rotted the wood from beneath them. No smell of death remained however, and there were no scavengers interested in the bones. They had picked them clean centuries before. The place had become home to a large serpent-like beast over the years, though, that made an appearance just as Arrella re-entered the structure.

It suddenly attacked. She was knocked down and quickly surrounded by the coils of the snake and was beginning to lose conciousness when Jedan landed on the creature and took it’s neck in his powerful grasp and pulled it away from her, It was thirty feet long and it’s body was like a steel spring in it’s strength but Jedan, the adrenaline rushing through him, was stronger. He wrestled the beast out through the door and they went crashing into the undergrowth in a ferocious battle to the death. The wild thrashing of the snake knocked down small trees and pulled the vines that covered them along, wrapping them around the combatants and almost causing Jedan to lose the death grip he had on the serpent’s throat. He could not choke the life from it no matter how he tried, and bent the spine of the wriggling animal over his knee and with a super-human effort, broke it in half. It had bitten him numerous times, but the armor he wore had saved him, though it’s covering and leather straps were torn severely. When he was certain it was dead, he rushed to Arrella’s side, deeply afraid that she had been harmed, but other than a few bruises and sore ribs, she was fine. He held her tenderly for a long moment and said, “I thought I lost you!” She kissed him and said, “I’m okay. More scared than anything else. Are you hurt? What a battle you have fought for me! Now I know you love me!” “More than life,” he replied.

The machine shed was behind the compound where he had killed the creature, and Welen was inspecting its contents, accompanied by Cathay, who kept within several feet of him. They had witnessed the awful fight with the serpent, and she was afraid but brave, knowing the man she had entrusted herself to would act in her behalf just as Jedan had done. There were bound to be more of the creatures, and others just as dangerous in the deep jungle. Welen had such a fierce look on his face that she felt comforted and they went deeper into the recesses of the dark shed. “Look, Cathay. The intruders took nothing from here. They don’t seem to have come in here at all. They must have sneaked up on the compound and caught most of the people in the front building and around it.” “Yes, I haven’t seen a single bone in here. I thought I heard something over in that corner just now though!”

Welen shined his light that way and Cathay screamed. “Another one!” It reared back as the light hit it’s eyes, in the process of sneaking up on them, and Welen pulled the short sword at his side. “Here! Hold the light!” He jumped to the attack, landing within feet of the creature in the light gravity, and took a mighty slice at it, peeling skin and bone from the serpents head above the eyes but not disabling it. It just got mad. The tail shot thru the air and wrapped around the warriors lower leg, tripping him, and then it was on him. Before Welen could counteract the assault the snake had it’s coils around him and was squeezing him so hard he thought it might kill him. He had dropped the sword when he fell and couldn’t reach the blaster. They rolled across the floor of the shed, crashing into implements and rotted crates as it tried to snuff out his life. It bit him in the shoulder and upper arm several times, then he grabbed the upper and lower jaws when the beast tried to bite his face, and with every ounce of remaining strength tore the top of it’s head off. Still it did not release it’s hold, only gradually weakening as the body realized it was dead. Cathay quickly moved to help dislodge the thrashing corpse, and two other soldiers hearing the battle from outside the shed ran in and laid hands on it. “That was one tough snake, I’ll tell ya,” he said to his men, and one of them said, “Aw Sarge, there ain’t nothin’ as tough as you!” They went outside and Cathay forced him to sit on a nearby rock as she cleaned his wounds. They weren’t deep, mere slashes that had broken the skin in several place, but he had bled freely. “We better hope that scudder wasn’t poisonous, big fella,” she said, leaning close as she did her work. She smelled so good he had completely forgotten the battle momentarily, and had to laugh at himself. “It’s not a laughing matter! We don’t know a thing about the life forms on this world. Maybe it wasn’t venomous, being a constrictor, but I’ll have to keep close and watch you for several days, just in case.” “Good!” “Are you all right? You’re acting a little strange!” “Cathay, the closer you get to me, the stranger I’m likely to get!” He got up and grinned at her, “I’m fine.  That old snake didn’t do anything but give me a few bruises. A little snake juice won’t bother me none.” Then, just to give her a hard time, he put his hand to his head and swayed dizzily, and she yelled his name and grabbed him. “What is it? Don’t you die on me! You can’t, I won’t let you!” He was leaning heavily on her, his head next to hers, and he whispered in her ear, “How ya gonna stop me? You’ll have to suck the poison out!” She thought that was a damned strange statement, and pulled her head back to look at his face, and saw the amusement. “Oh! You’re teasing me! Don’t be mean to me Welen.” He was immediately sorry, and told her so. “You just make me a little goofy, that’s all. I won’t tease you anymore.” His bleeding had stopped, and he suffered no ill effects from the slashing fangs, but she was still concerned. “Let’s go back to the ship and disinfect it anyway, just to be safe.”

When they climbed on board, the vessel was nearly deserted, most of the crew at the compound exploring the ruins. She led him into her cabin and sat him on her bunk and took down her medical supplies. “Take your armor off,” she told him, and he got up and peeled it from his massive chest, then sat back down on the bunk. He had a few scratches on his back, too, that she wanted to look at, and she puttered around for a half  hour making sure there was no chance of infection setting in. When she had him all bandaged up she was breathing a little heavier than when she had started, and so was he. He reached out for her hand as she was stepping away, and pulled her down on his lap. “That was the most wonderful doctoring I’ve ever had.” She didn’t try to get up, just sat there looking at the fine strong face. “You said you wouldn’t tease me.” “I’m not.” She leaned over and kissed him long and slow with the softest warmest lips in the universe and set him on fire. Then, when she felt his reaction, stopped and said, “Okay. Now we know where we stand,” and she got off his lap and grinned at him. “We’ve got a lot of time ahead of us. Let’s not rush and spoil the sweetness.” He smiled back and got up too, her recent presence on his lap still showing. “Cathay.” She stepped in and gave him a full body hug, and almost drug him back to the bunk. “Oh! Welen, we had better get back outside, right now!” They kissed again and left the ship.

He lent a hand when she descended from the transport and she kept it as they walked back to the front building where Jedan and Arrella and several others were holding a conference. “Thank you for fighting the serpent for me. You are my hero.” “Now you’re teasing me,” Welen said. She stopped him with a tug on the hand she still held, and moved close to him and looked up into his eyes. “Do I look like I’m teasing?” she whispered, and he leaned down and kissed her, feeling like the hero she had said he was.

“I hear you had a tangle with ‘old wiggly’ too,” Jedan said to the other big man, “and tore it’s damned head off.” “Yeah, but it wasn’t as easy as you make it sound.” “Don’t worry, I know how hard they are to kill. Good job.” Jedan offered his hand, and Welen, kind of a hero worshipper himself where Jedan was concerned, as were all of them, took it and a great friendship began, among equals. Jedan nodded toward Cathay, “She take good care of you?” “Well, she was a little rough on me there at the end,” he said, and pulled her close to him. “Yeah, I  can see that,” Jedan said, laughing as he hugged his own sweet lady. “You girls know each other? Good. We’ll spend some time together on the trip then.” The girls smiled at each other, and Cathay said, “That would be fun. Let’s.”

One of Welen’s men came over to make his report. “Captain, whoever killed everybody here sure scattered them. We found bones all the way to the river. Looks like they were chased down that way, caught, and butchered. Like they didn’t want no survivors.” “Well. They got their wish. What else have you found? Any of that stuff in the shed usable?” “The tech’s have checked most of it out. Sorry Captain, there’s too much moisture in this jungle hell. It’s all rusted or rotted beyond recognition. We don’t even know what we’re looking at.” A giant flying reptile dove at the man making the report, catching him in it’s claws, and carried him screaming away, blood spraying out in a fan behind him. Every man and woman that saw it fired their blasters at the beast, but it was too late to do any good. The creature exploded, but the man was dead when they got to him.

Jedan gave the order to head for the ships. “There’s nothing left here to salvage, and we have a long way to go. No sense losing another man. We’ll bury him so the creatures don’t get at him, and blast off.” Most of the crew wished they had eyes in the back of their head while the service was held, and didn’t waste any time getting aboard when the last stone was on the pile. Welen and Cathay headed for the bridge. She went there to do her job. Welen was there because she was. One of the navigators asked him, “What are you doing up here soldier?” “Protecting my interests,” he grinned, and Cathay smiled. “It’s okay, nav, he’s with me.”

There wasn’t another inhabited planet in this part of the galaxy. That world they had just left was the only one that had an atmosphere that didn’t look like it was on fire. It was wild and colorful drifting past the strange worlds and moons, but they were just passing through at a safe speed to avoid the intermittent asteroids and meteor showers. When the last of them had gone by, the pilots kicked the ships into the star drive and sat back to enjoy the light show. Welen looked at the stars shooting by in long burning streaks out the side window. “Look,Cathay. Watch them for a few minutes.” “No. I know better. It’ll make me dizzy.” “That’s how you make me feel when you kiss me.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “Come here!”

She didn’t care what the crew thought. She was the commander here. She kissed him like she had the first time, and when she let go of  him he had to sit down, weak, his lips burning like the stars that flashed by. The crew on deck laughed and applauded their commander. They had all wanted to dally with the big man, but they knew who he belonged to. He was safe from them. For now.

A boring week was ahead of them as they made their way to the next galaxy, but it was their first long journey in deep space, and the sights that continually came into view kept them on  their toes. Nebulas of amazing colors and shapes, gas clouds shooting millions of miles from exploded stars, and comets crossed their path, and most of the crew stayed near the front view ports, eagerly anticipating whatever came. Cathay’s presence was not required, and she retired to her cabin. “Come with me, Welen, I want to show you something,” she said to her man, and he left the others at the window and went with her. When she closed the door behind them, and they sat on her bunk, he asked, “What did you want to show me, sweetheart?” “How much I love you,” she said, as she pulled the top of her uniform over her head.

Arrella was being sick every morning now, and Jedan was a worried man. “What can I do, baby? Should I call the medics and take you to the sick bay?” “Oh, Jedan, I think I know what’s wrong with me. When Baen became pregnant with little Jo, she got sick every day for a  while. I think our dreams are coming true, and we too will have a child. We certainly tried hard enough!” He held her tight and kissed her many times. “You will be a wonderful mama. I  might start calling you that myself. My little mama.” She wasn’t too sick to drag him into the berth and pull the curtain closed.

The area they were coming into had a solar system with sixteen planets, most of them not much bigger than the moon of Earth but for two. One of those was a gas giant near the outer edge, the other being a world where a colony of traders and miners from different star systems had been operating for ages. Jedan had stopped here for rest and relaxation on previous journeys through  this part of the universe and had always had a good time, and his crew and soldiers deserved a little of  both. He got on the com and sent a call to the spaceport, and they gave permission to land the fleet. “I’m glad to see that everyone out here hasn’t been wiped out. I expected another batch of bones when we got here.” The spaceport commander, after hearing the report, said, “We had news of marauders in that area. It was a long time ago, but the alien horde swept through and burned many of the smaller posts. They left this one alone because of the tribute we have always paid. The fleet is welcome, but must adhere to strict regulations except where drinking and gambling are concerned.” Jedan signed off, and Arrella said, “I would think the drinking and gambling would be more regulated than anything else. What else is there to be strict over? Women? We have our own,” she added impishly.

 They would stay for two days, none of them interested in drinking and gambling as they were a tightly disciplined fighting force, and just enjoyed seeing the sights, a few good meals, and the soft beds of the hotels. The shops had items from distant worlds stocked in them, and the foursome toured them to some extent, the girls excitedly purchasing the things they would need for the coming child. No one that they encountered commented on the fact that Arrella was an alien of the species that held the whip over them, but they were very condescending in her presence. One sly individual, thinking it very strange for her to be with the Humans, made careful notations of her description and the ones she was with for future reference when the yearly patrol came to pick up the tribute. None of the soldiers or crew members got in trouble with the local laws. There was really nothing they wanted here as far as excitement was concerned. They had much prettier females on their own ships. The females of this world were alien types that, quite truthfully, were ugly as sin, and sinning with them was out of the question.

Many young ones were born on this world, however, and the girls found quite a lot of small items they thought would come in handy. The crew soon tired of the alien atmosphere of the community, and Jedan sent runners to gather everyone at the spaceport. “We’re going to the next galaxy, where men from Mars had a colony when I was young. They are most likely long dead but our purpose is to garner all of the weaponry and tools we can salvage that will help us in the coming battle with the Horde. If  by luck there are survivors, we will take them along too, but the chances of that are slim.” They loaded their purchases and went to their assigned posts, after being checked over by the medics to be sure no alien presence was coming with them, as the fleet waited for permission to launch. The air traffic was heavy, and the wait was long, but after several hours the path was clear and the fleet lifted off.

Cathay loved the alien girl, and was proud to be considered her friend, and when she discovered the girl was pregnant with Jedan’s child, began to take care of her like she was her own little sister. “Time moves slowly in space, when you stay away from the warps,” Jedan told Welen when they were talking together over the com one day. Welen laughed and replied, “You know, if we could find a way to control a time warp, that would quite possibly be the most formidable weapon of all. Who has got the courage to attempt it though? You would have to jump through it many times just to see where it took you and how to get back.” “Hmm. I’ll get in contact with Muck. Maybe he and Baen are bored with things on Earth and would like to meet us at our next destination. Their child is old enough now that she could safely come along.” Jedan powered up the long distance com with several of Muck’s magic jewels and waited patiently for Muck to discover he was being summoned.

Little Jo was eighteen months old and walked and talked extremely well, and was a precocious child, inquisitive and loving of all whom she met, and one of the prettiest children on Earth. Baen, having spent much time in the service, and Muck, who had also had some experience in space in another age, got excited about the possibilities brought about by the call from Jedan. He too had been to the colony that Jedan mentioned in the call, more than thirteen thousand years ago, and would like to see that world again. With Baen, formerly one of the very best pilots in the alien fleet, at the controls of their starship, he knew there was a great adventure waiting for them, and he was doing nothing more than supervisory work at the present. “Baen, darlin’, if you want to go, and think it’s safe for Jo, I’m all for it. Think of the possibilities! If I can master the time warp, as Welen suggested, there is no end to space travel potential. We could jump back and forth in time to worlds that have been dead for eternity, and visit even Mother Mars when it was lush and full of life. We could go to Eden!”

Dorian and Sonja and the girl Meela were also interested in the possibilities, and their presence on Earth was not a necessity either. “We could accompany the three of you. I know that Meela would be heart broken if you take Jo from her, and if, perish the thought, you somehow got lost, she would never forgive us.” Sonja quietly said, “Muck, if there is a chance to visit Eden when it was a live city on Mars, I would be a fool not to go.” Meela, now a teenager and becoming a raving beauty, sitting with Jo on her lap said simply, “I want to go.”

It took several days to outfit the ships, and like the day the expedition had lifted off, there were thousands on the scene to wish them farewell as they departed, without the band and fireworks though. Dorian would have preferred to just leave without telling anyone other than Amil and Rashel and the old couple Kahn and Zelda, but their position wouldn’t allow that. He was still the king of Atlantis, though it was gone, and the continent it had once had control over. Being the personal army of the queen, The Dragon Legion and fourteen hundred foot soldiers and their women loaded their transports and cargo ships, Clem, with the eagle always with him, splendid in his Dragon Master uniform, directing them.

They were a week into the journey when Muck thought he had a grip on the problem. He had the golden orb, the Zun, together with the power crystal from Atlantis, before him on his workbench. He had always kept them apart, safely insulated in their gold and lead boxes, not knowing what the combination might bring about. “Should I open them and place them side by side? The tremendous powers of the two of them together might be extremely dangerous. I had best wait until we land somewhere to begin the experiment.” Baen agreed with him. “You never know, the combination could prove disastrous. Are you sure you want to do this?” “I’ll set it up so that I can open them remotely with the Sandi. The robot can then set the two of them together. If they are stable, I can then start the program.”

Meela hoped with all her heart that Muck could accomplish the feat. She had known Mars as nothing more than frigid ruins buried in the dust and debris of a long ago war, and wanted desperately to see and touch the people she had descended from, and walk the avenues with Sonja and the others on a warm summer day, wandering through the fabulous gardens and shops, among the citizens and gods of Eden.

The powers of the Human mind are limitless, and when one has the time to develop them, which Muck had been granted when he could not die, become a source for endless magical creations, much as the gods themselves had been capable of when time was young. They had left the fleet in orbit above the desert planet and only those in Muck’s ship went down to the surface, with Clem and ten of  his troopers and their dragons dropping with them in a lander for protection. A bunker was established with their help, to deflect any possible explosion, and the Sandi was sent out with the two gold and lead boxes. Once it had set them up, Muck gave it the okay to open them and set them side by side. There was no explosion, only a ruby glow such as a new star being formed lit up the skies above them, and remained constant. They had meshed and were compatible, and the power that was now in Muck’s hands and mind once he went out and picked them up was incredible. He had been the most intelligent man on Earth, but now the thoughts that rushed through his head went in directions he had never anticipated. Holding the Zun and the crystal in his bare hands at the same time made him into something different than he had been, and he watched curiously as the ruby glow went up his arms and into his body, and he experienced a feeling that was more intense than the greatest orgasm as he became a god.

They were gone, the crystal and the Zun. They had been ingested by Muck’s body and would forever be a part of him. He suddenly knew the answer to the questions. All of them. Certain that the power in him would harm none of his friends, yet unsure of their reaction when he disclosed the truth to them, he stayed behind the bunker with the Sandi for some time, until Baen, worried that he had been injured or disabled somehow by the ruby light that had suddenly disappeared, stuck her head around the wall of the bunker.

It was not her husband that stood there, but a tall bronzed muscular man with wings, and long curving horns on his forehead. “Oh my god!” “Yes?”

When she got over the extreme shock he had given her she said, “Well, at least you’re not hurt. I was worried when the light went out.” “The light will never go out, sweetheart. It is inside me. I hope I don’t scare anyone too badly when they see what I have become.” She took his hand and walked from behind the wall with him, and Sonja and Meela ran to him and caught him in their arms. Now there were three of them! Meela , tears streaming down her young face, said, “You look just like the Father, who I have seen in my dreams!” “I am He.”

Sonja knew this was true, and said, “Welcome back, Father. It has been a long time.” Muck was still himself, too, and he said, “Yes it has. Now, I have indeed found the secret of  Time. It belongs to the gods. Sonja, you have intimate knowledge of this, having crossed it yourself, and my little Meela, with your powerful wish to become as Sonja is. The old gods of Mars and Venus did not die. I have different groups working in various periods in time, each toward a separate goal which I will not disclose at this point, however, be assured we are not alone.” They rejoined the group, the dinosaurs sniffing Muck curiously, knowing him but confused by the wings. They liked the great eagle though, and wings did not spook them in any way. Big Jaw tasted the curving horns on his forehead, leaving Muck with a distasteful look on his face, and he said, “Damn, I hate it when you do that!”

They rejoined the ships in orbit and continued their trek, and Muck, once the strangeness had worn off, said to Dorian, “From time to time I will come and go, checking on the progress of my other projects. I have been doing this in spirit since my other body withered, but once again having flesh will make it more difficult. Watch over my body while I am away, and I’ll be back shortly. I’m going over to scare the hell out of Jedan and his group, and let Welen know that his idea is not only possible, but can be done with no complications or loss of life. I am taking young Meela along, so don’t let anyone disturb our sleeping bodies until we wake up on our own.”  Dorian shook hands with him, and the god said to the young lady, “Lie down in your bunk sweetheart, and let yourself drift into slumber. Then we will fly!”

Moments after Meela drifted away she found herself with the Father flying weightlessly among the stars. She felt no unease at the fact, it was as natural to her as though she had done it forever, which she unknowingly had. Their wings propelled them through the vastness faster than the fastest starship and soon they saw the armada ahead of them. Father said, “We will suddenly appear in their midst on Jedan’s ship. It will be tremendous fun seeing the wild expressions on their faces! They know you, but it will take a few seconds more for them to recognize their old friend Muck. The fear will quickly dissipate, and we’ll have a nice visit. How do you like flying with me?” “I have never had so much fun, or felt so free, Father!” “It’s like that, isn’t it? Well, here we are.”

They were standing behind Jedan and Arrella, who was soon to be a mommy, and Meela said, “I will love the child as much as I love little Jo.” The couple swirled around to see them standing there, and Jedan, born and raised under the watchful eyes of the old gods of Mars, was stunned. “Father! How is this possible? Wait! You look like Muck! You are Muck!.” “Yes, it’s me. Both of us! I’ll tell you about that later, but right now we need to discuss how to set up the computers and all of the ships for the Warp.” Meela had gone right over to the shocked soon-to-be mother and touched her gently on the arm. “Don’t be frightened, sweet Arrella. It is truly me, your dear friend. Everyone back with the fleet is concerned of your welfare, and they all miss you very much, especially Baen. She sends this for you.” She hugged the alien girl and kissed her warmly, and with a great love. “Soon we will all be together in the flesh, when we all arrive on the planet where we have agreed to meet. The Warp is nearby, Father has said, and when we are ready the two fleets will join as one and take the journey.” “Where will we be going to? Will it be filled with danger? I worry about the baby, for the time is near.” “There is nothing to fear, the Father shall lead the way, and prepare all the ships for the trek himself. As for where we are going, we shall travel the road to Heaven, and walk once more in the gardens of Eden, on Mars, in a time that was wonderful and sweet, where the child will be born in the presence of the old gods, and welcomed by them.”

Muck had made some minor adjustments to the array of computers, and tweaked some of the components of the ship, and Jedan, a master technician himself, quickly understood the process. “We should have all of the fleet converted when we meet at the planet, and when we have tested everything a final time, be ready for the jump through the Warp.” “Yes, and by then our ships will be finished as well. The road to Heaven may have a few bumps and ruts but will be relatively smooth. We will take our leave now, and see you in a few days. Come Meela! We must fly.” She hugged the crying but happy Arrella once more, and the vision of them turned misty, and soon disappeared.

Once the armada had met and the conversion was complete in the skies above the planet where the two fleets converged into the one, the crews went down and found to their amazement that there was a small colony of  Humans enjoying a primitive but well balanced life among the ancient ruins left behind when the Horde had swept through. They had no knowledge of a past, and lived from day to day gathering fruits and nuts, and small rodents for their subsistence. The chief was a tall man similar in aspect to the old warriors of Mars, and many of the others in the tribe were also endowed with his handsomeness and strength, and Jedan was pleased. They would make a fine addition to the army once they were indoctrinated and consigned to their squad. A hundred and forty inhabitants of the planet were loaded on the ships, along with some of the small creatures they had become fond of, and several huge laser blasters that had survived the ages in an underground storeroom.

The road was opened, and the armada went through the gates. There was a vast blackness that overcame them, swallowing the entire fleet, and many felt the fear of death wash over them, then a sudden light appeared at the end of  the dark and they jumped into the clear blue skies above a beautiful stand of cumulus clouds floating high over the oceans and green lush world of Mars. They appeared from nowhere, and had not the Father come ahead in his spirit form and warned of their coming, would have been blasted from the skies by the armed starships that were waiting for them. Jedan commed the spaceport and was granted permission to land the fleet, and Arrella, upset by the imbalance of  Time, went into labor.

She was rushed to the maternity ward in the finest hospital in the city, and the Father gathered his friends, the old gods of Mars, and they were in attendance when the child was born in a bright sunny room, overlooking the fabulous gardens of Eden.

Monti was in the room when the child was born. She didn’t know what to expect, and was a little amazed when the baby was clean and suckling. It wasn’t a little monster after all, just a cute little wrinkled up newborn like all the others she had seen. Except for it’s color. It was yellowish, not the red-brown of  it’s father, nor the light green of it’s mother, and had a cap of tight yellow curls. The other little hybrid in the room was beautiful, if you didn’t pay attention to the wild golden eyes that glowed with an inner light. They were Human and Alien. She felt sorry for them. They would never really be a part of either. Her ruminations were interrupted when the baby was carefully picked up by the Father, who everyone was calling Muck for some reason, and the old god said, “She’s perfect! Arrella, she will be just as pretty as Jo when she grows to fit her skin. They’re all homely and look like old people when they’re born, but it passes quickly. What is her name?” “Jedan and I like the name Lila, but we haven’t really decided for sure. If she was a boy we thought we might name him Jeldan or Mildan. Mathelli or Randella for the girl.” “Ah. Those are all right, but Lila fits her!” Muck tickled the tiny thing under her chin and said, “You like Lila, don’t you sweetheart?” The newborn smiled and made some cooing noises. “See? Come on Arrella! Give it to her!” He got a severe look from Baen, who said, “Give me that baby! Not an hour old and already you try to spoil her. Here, Arrella. The poor little thing is hungry.” Jo crawled up on the bed to be close to the child. She had never seen a baby, being one herself at only eighteen months, but already she loved it and would be it’s best friend their whole lives. “Hi, Lila, I love you very much,” and kissed the wrinkled face. The baby opened it’s eyes, also a deep shining gold, and made a sound that was heard by all of them, “Jo.” Arrella looked from one to the other and back, shocked. “Well,” Jedan said, “that’s good enough for me. Lila, meet Jo.” Both babies smiled and Jo kissed the tiny one again. “I liked that name best anyway,” Arrella said, “but, did she really say Jo’s name or am I out of my head?” Baen took her hand. “She said it. Jo knew my Father’s name and what he looked like the day she started talking, and told us to accept her for what she was. You will have to do the same, both you and Jedan. They’re not like other children. They are much smarter, and have strange powers that Muck said will only grow. Just love her, like we love Jo. That’s all we can do.” Jo had laid her head next to Lila’s and they both were sleeping. Arrella looked back at Baen, smiling, “They are beautiful, aren’t they?”