Cowboys and Aliens Ch. 24

Most were going to continue sight-seeing around the northern part, near where Cleo talked about. Then the plan was that the girls were going to go back to the ranch and pack everything into the cargo ship and then bring the ship to Atlantis. That way Annabelle could go back to school during the week and come back on the weekends.

The Lieutenant laughed and explained how outrageous that sounds to an outsider, "It's definitely a changing world now, for many years people have had cottages and stuff that's within a few hours drive that they could go on the weekends. Here you guys come along and a weekend jaunt is halfway around the world and you can do it on a whim."

Just then Cricket warned Mark, "There's a Chinese sub coming in from the East, it's just past our perimeter, I've given them a warning, but they're not stopping."

Mark sighed and shook his head, but it was loud enough that everyone noticed, as he looked at the statue to the East.

Annabelle nonchalantly asked, "Are we being attacked?"

Mark calmly said, "I think so! A Chinese sub is trying to sneak in from the East."

The Admiral looked shocked, "Seriously?"

"Yes, and they aren't stopping, I'm still not sure what or why they have an issue with us, but this will be the second attack from them, if they do attack!"

Cricket told Mark, "They just fired a missile!"

Mark shook his head, "Aaannddd they just fired a missile at us!"

Everyone looked to his statue at the end of the gold path as it prepared for attack and then fired his trident.

There was a flash of blue light, like a laser, from a couple of statues on the East side of the island, then the missile just vaporized. No explosion, no falling debris... nothing!

The statue then returned to his normal stance and everyone else just returned to their breakfast and conversations, like nothing had happened.

The Americans looked at everyone around the tables in the dining area, shocked, "Nobody here even flinched! You were just attacked! Isn't anybody worried?"

Rayven answered him with a mouthful of bacon, "Why would we worry? Mark is on our side!" As everyone looked at Mark, who had his eyes closed.

Mark asked Cricket, "We have a video of the attack don't we?"

"Of course I recorded it, plus the audible warnings we communicated to them."

"Good make sure that the statue isn't shown, but show the missile being destroyed, then I want you to pick up all the Chinese submarines out of the water and beach them on the Chinese shoreline. How many of those tractor beam shuttles do you have ready?"

"I've got 10 of them, and they're all cloaked and en route to pick up subs now."

Mark then opened his eyes and saw everyone was staring at him, "Sorry what did I miss?"

Rayven laughed, "Nothing babe, I take it you were making an example of the Chinese navy?"

The Admiral looked skeptical, "What do you mean you've already made an example of them? You were just sitting there!"

Mark just smiled, "Watch the news over the next couple of days," then he raised an eyebrow and added, "Just know that I went easy on them... this time."

The Admiral was curious now and he looked a bit nervous as he asked, "If I can ask, what did you do?"

Mark just smiled, "Spoilers! But let's just say the Chinese are going to be very busy for the next while and this is likely going to cost them quite a bit."

He then looked at Liyana and sighed, "I guess I should probably make some sort of announcement acknowledging their attack, and why we responded the way we did."

Liyana just nodded her head, "Yes, you should, I can't see people getting too upset at what you're doing, except for the Chinese government."

As everyone finished their breakfasts and got up from the table, Mark got a message from Cricket, "There is a Shepard class transport that just exited light drive and it has people looking to relocate."

Mark then announced, "There's a Shepard class transport that is about to come down at the spaceport."

Liyana looked at Mark in confusion, "Wasn't the first Atlanterra transport due tomorrow?"

Mark was also confused, "Yes, but those were Starliner and Cruiser class transports, this one is a Shepard class! I guess I don't get to go sight-seeing yet again."

The Admiral said, "We are leaving for the airport. Do you want to ride with us?"

Mark said, "Sure! That would be great."

The girls asked if they should stick around, but Mark told them, "Go on without me. You might as well enjoy yourselves and this first smaller transport might help to work out some kinks before the bigger transports arrive tomorrow. It hopefully won't take very long and I can catch up."

Mark kissed all the girls goodbye and left with the Americans to the airport. Jared, the assistant, took it upon himself to call the lift at the transit stop, as the Admiral again apologized for the attitude and actions of himself and his men.

Mark just said, "Thanks, but you've already apologized, what has caused this sudden change in attitude?"

Jared blurted out, "You're a god!"

Mark laughed, "No I'm not! I will admit I've got abilities that others don't have, but I'm just a man that wants peace and prosperity for the people and planets under his care."

The Admiral's phone buzzed, so he took it out and looked at it. Then his eyes went wide as he said, "There's reports of Chinese subs being picked up out of the water and floating over the ocean."

Mark just sat there with a big grin on his face.

The Admiral, looked at Mark, then looked at his phone and then back at Mark before saying, "God or not, you are obviously not someone to be trifle with, as such I am going back to the States to deliver the message, that you are indeed friends and to open regular visitation and communication between our nations."

Mark just continued to smile, "Thank you Admiral," as the sun was blocked by the incoming transport.

The Lieutenant said, "Whoa, that's a big ship!"

Mark laughed, "That's nothing! That's a little Shepard class transport, like an airplane for space travel. I think they carry 250 people or so and 10 or 12 crew. There's a few Starliner class transports on their way and those are absolutely massive, each one can carry over 5,000 people and have over 100 crew."

From their elevation they could already see the terminal island offshore and the transport ship that was just settling to the ground on the spaceport side of the port.

"I just thought of something! Do your planes need fuel? We don't use fossil fuels, so we have no fuel on the island," Mark said with concern.

The Admiral looked at both pilots, and they both came to the same conclusion, "We might be able to make it, but we're going to be on fumes."

Mark closed his eyes since he found he could concentrate better.

Seeing his eyes were closed, just like at the breakfast table, the Americans just watched him quietly.

"Cricket, we are going to need to look into aircraft refuelling and we need it ASAP. We're probably going to need to look into boat refuelling eventually also!"

"I'm way ahead of you. Last night I did some research and there's lot of different types of jet fuels, but most of them are very similar, they just have different additives for climates, lubrication, and corrosion prevention. As long as they aren't completely out of fuel, I can have a replicator sample the fuel they have and then replicate more of it."

"That's an awesome idea, I really wasn't wanting to have to import or store multiple different types of fossil fuels. How soon can you have one of those things operational?"

"I've already got it ready... Do you have any concerns about CB555 being our gas boy?"

"That's ingenious! I love it! Is CB here on the island?"

"I suspected you might need a helper around the port, so I had Sarah go pick him up and deliver him a couple of hours ago."

Mark opened his eyes, turned to the men and smiled, "Don't worry about the fuel issue, we'll get our gas boy to refuel your planes."

The Admiral looked puzzled, "But just a second ago you said you didn't have any fuel on the island! How are you going to refuel us without fuel?"

"I just re-purposed one of our old robots, he's been a bit down in the dumps, thinking he wasn't needed anymore, so this will give him something to do! I'm not sure how fast the replication process works, but he'll get you filled up and ready to go."

Captain Litta asked, "Replication process?"

"Yeah, CB will carry around a little replicator machine, it will sample the fuel you already have in the plane and then make you more of it using a replicator."

As they approached the transit zone on the roof, they could see the transport had landed and opened its portals and people were starting to exit and walk toward the terminal.

As their lifted descended to the roof and the door opened, they exited as CB555 came floating up to see them.

Mark laughed when he saw the new look.

CB's lower body looked like well worn jean shorts and he even had a pocket with what looked like an old grease rag hanging out of it. He was wearing an orange hi-viz vest and a blue baseball cap that had 'CB 555' on it.

He was pulling a red antigrav sled, designed to look like a wagon, it even said Radio Flyer on the side. The wagon itself appeared to have a small slip tank looking device with a fuel hose.

Mark high-fived the robot, "CB! Long time no see, good to have you with us!"

CB replied in his robotic voice, "Thank you for the job sir! I shall perform it to the best of my abilities."

Mark smiled, "I have no doubts you will! Can you please fuel up the airplanes for these fine gentlemen?"

CB saluted, "Aye, aye sir!" As he turn and started to leave.

Mark laughed, "That's for ships you daft droid!"

CB waved his arm in the air and said, "Whatever!"

Everybody laughed at the casual interaction between Mark and the robot, as Jared just said, "Amazing!"

The pilots excused themselves to go supervise the refuelling process, while Jared and the Admiral took the escalator down to the third level, where they could watch the citizens exiting the transport, noting most were centaurs, minotaurs and cats with a few humans mixed in.

The Admiral asked, "Was that a livestock transport?"

"No! They are citizens from Savann!" Mark said with a big smile on his face, as he was scanning over the myriad of creatures, looking for anyone he had met on Savann.

Mark was facing the wrong direction as Candy snuck up behind him, took off his cowboy hat and put it on her head.

The Admiral and the assistant jumped back, not expecting the tall centaur.

Mark turned around, "Candy! I missed you!" as he hugged her tight and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"I've missed you too, my King, good thing you are easy to spot with your cowboy hat on," she said as she placed the cowboy hat back on Mark's head and then looked behind him.

Mark turned around to see more centaurs, "Meles, Lydia, nice to see you! Welcome to Atlantis!" He then turned to a stunning female centaur that looked like an Appaloosa, only with reddish spots, like freckles, and said, "Who is this lovely lady?"

"Mark, this is my friend, Danyria," Candy introduced them.

"Welcome to Atlantis, Danyria!" Mark said as he hugged her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Danyria blushed and bowed, "Thank you, my King!"

Then the Admiral and Assistant's eyes went wide, so Mark turned to see them looking at a huge tiger that was standing off to the side.

Mark smiled, "Bentiri! Nice to see you! Welcome to Atlantis!" as he shook hands with the big tiger, who shook his hand and then brought him in for a hug.

Bentiri said in is deep voice, "It's a good thing you are easy to spot with the cowboy hat! It is good to see you again, my King, thank you for taking care of my daughter."

Mark then thought he should introduce everyone, "Everyone, this is Admiral Caldwell and his assistant Jared, they were visiting from the USA. Gentlemen, this is Candy and her parents, Meles and Lydia, her friend, Danyria and this is Bentiri, Marta's dad. They're from the planet Savann."

Everyone was hesitant to shake hands, but Candy took the initiative and started the process.

Still in a state of shock at the casual interaction with aliens, the Admiral and Jared excused themselves to go board their planes.

Mark shook their hands and thanked them for visiting and said to come back anytime, then turned around to talk to the new arrivals, "So what brings you to Atlantis?"

Candy jumped up and down and blurted out, "We're moving here!"

Mark said, "That's awesome, we have lots of room!"

Just then an announcement came over the public address system...

'Welcome to Atlantis!

The island is split into 10 regions, plus the capital city of Acropolis. We currently have over 100 planned townsites with a mix of mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, plains and seaside, so there should be something for everyone.

To get around the island we have a lift system that can get you pretty much anywhere, and it costs nothing if you use the public lift terminals.

Visit the Planning Office in the capital city of Acropolis, for details about purchasing a lot for a residence or business.

Since it's a big island and we don't expect everyone to build their own place right away, therefore the King has setup temporary residences, free for up to one month, while you explore the island and determine where you want to build. Community meals are in the pavilions from 7 to 9, 11 to 13 and 17 to 19.

If you have any questions, visit the information booth or, if you happen to be in Acropolis, visit the Planning Office for more information.

Again... welcome to Atlantis!'

Mark nodded his head, "Not a bad speech! Do any of you have questions? Are you all thinking of moving here?"

Bentiri said, "I am, I'll be closer to my daughter and I like the idea of broadening human horizons."

Mark looked at him with a puzzled look.

Then he started laughing, "Did you see the looks on those two men's faces when I walked up?" as everyone else started laughing as well.

Then Candy said that they were moving to work on Joe and Kat's new ranch.

Mark was surprised, "Really? I hadn't heard anything. Mind you I've been pretty busy the past couple of days and, in all honesty, I haven't had much time to talk to the girls about the new ranch."

Candy smiled, "They don't know anyway. Kat and I have been messaging and it looks like they are only going to bring their horses to the new ranch. So we're going to be their partners for trail rides. They may get other horses eventually, but I think the novelty of riding a centaur will help build their business."

Mark nodded, "Yes, I can see the novelty in that! Are you guys hungry or did you want to go look around?"

They indicated that they had just ate, so Mark messaged Annabelle and asked where they were, so he could meet up with them.

She replied saying they were in the Gaia River Valley location Cleo talked about... Mestor 09.

They were going to have to take multiple lifts, so Mark led them to the big map of Atlantis and showed them the community the girls were at... Mestor 09. Now that everyone knew where they were going, they went to the roof and called for some lifts.

Mark, Candy and Danyria got into one lift and Bentiri, Meles and Lydia got into the other. Soon they were flying Northwest along the Evenor River and mountains and then turning and going through some scenic mountain valleys, before coming to a very lush river valley with steep hills on both sides.

Candy asked, "This is beautiful, are they thinking about living here?"

"No, Cleo from the embassy was raving about the beauty and scenery there, so the girls wanted to check it out. The girls all live in the palace with me."

Candy asked, "I thought you didn't want to live in a palace?"

"I didn't, but we all kind of fell in love with this one, so we decided to stay. You'll have to come check it out sometime."

When they stopped, everyone got out and the lifts floated up into the air. All that was around them was a small shelter that looked like a bus stop with a sign that said, 'Mestor 09' and it had room for two hover carts to park, although both carts were currently out. Inside the shelter was a blue LIFT terminal and a white INFO button.

The area itself had a fair sized meadow near a small lake that collected the water from 3 different waterfalls around it. The meadow wasn't huge, so it couldn't grow into a very large community, but it would definitely be a very scenic one. He could definitely see the attraction to the area.

Cricket said, "I just used the name of the region for now and a two digit number, eventually when the communities have names, I'll change it to the name."

Just then they heard "Candy!" and "Daddy!" shouted from behind them as Laruun and Marta came running up. Annabelle, T'Soona, Solara and Rayven bringing up the rear.

"Where's Liyana and Gyges?" Mark asked once everyone had arrived.

"I think they're doing stuff at the Planning Office. Liyana is more about work than just going out and playing," Rayven said.

"Well, this is a pretty place. What do you girls think?" Mark asked.

"It's pretty, but it's definitely not ranch land," Annabelle said as she gave Candy a hug.

"Are you guys moving here and who is this?" Annabelle asked Candy, while looking at Danyria.

Mark said, "Sorry, I forgot to introduce you, Danyria is Candy's friend, she's moving here too. Danyria this is Annabelle, Solara, Rayven, T'Soona, Laruun and Marta."

"We're going to be ranch partners with your mom and dad," Candy said excitedly.

Rayven said, "That's great! We'll get to see you more often!"

Mark was curious, so he pressed the INFO button and it displayed a holomap showing the various lots and there were already 10 lots claimed.

"Cool, there's already been 10 lots here that have been purchased. Let's go check out some of the ranch locations you found yesterday," Mark suggested, to which they all agreed.

Since they were taking numerous lifts, Solara was going to ride with Meles and Lydia, Mark and Annabelle were going to ride with Candy and Danyria and the rest were going to ride in a third lift.

Cricket told Mark, "I know the locations of the areas that Annabelle liked, so when you choose the location, go down to the bottom of the list and choose the 99 location, it will only show up for the people in your group."

Mark told everyone, "Annabelle, Cricket knows where you were looking and since they were all quite a distance away from the transit stops, she created some special locations that only we can see... Atlas 99, Autokthon 99 and Mneseus 99. Those locations are very close to where you were looking yesterday."

They were soon all off to a location that was near the interior of the Atlas region, in between Mount Cleito and the Meteor Plateau.

Since it was half an island away, they had time to talk. Candy told them that a few days after they had left her on Savann, she realized she liked having her parents and friends around, but was rather bored with just volunteering and running around. She then said she dated a guy for a few days and when it came to sex, she realized how much she missed Mark's big cock, but mostly his stamina. Fortunately Dany had filled that role well, but she hoped Mark would fill her every now and then too!

After a few minutes later, they past beyond the big mountains and started turning towards the plains and foothills in the wide valley between the Meteor Plateau to the South and Mount Cleito to the North. Not long after that, they were soon approaching the location and the lifts started descending toward an open meadow amongst the foothills about halfway between Mount Cleito and the Meteor Plateau.