Atlantis Rising
Authors: Michael McClain
Tags: #Science Fiction, #Adventure, #Space Opera, #Military
By Michael McClain
(also known as Siath)
Copyright © 2014
Michael McClain
All rights reserved.
I would like to thank my friends and family
for all the support I received while writing this book. I would like to thank
all the proof readers who helped proof this book. Special thanks to my Mother
who supported me through trying times and encouraged me to continue. Ben
Winston who helped me become a better writer and taught me to let my imagination
flow.
A New Home
E |
xternal
lights flared to life as the underwater base came to life. The base was massive
by Earth standards; it was over a mile long at some of its largest points. The
center hub looked like the bottom of an egg pressed into the sea floor. Access
conduits looked like arms connected to the central hub of the base at several
locations. Each of the arms ended in what looked like a large building.
Deterioration had allowed water to breach three of the six arm’s connecting
tubes and then flood the tubes. Large cracks ran down the lengths of these
tubes, and one of them had even collapsed. Lights flickered briefly as the base
tried to power up the flooded sections and then safety protocols kicked in to
shut the power conduits down to the damaged sections.
Lettering lit up in dim blue on the side of
the base, it read: Astinata Beos, jastie io eqiesas Nef Lekser. If you could
have read the ancient language, it read, Atlanta Base, Repair and Construction,
Sol Sector. Around the hub, lights flickered on and illuminated the outside of
the base, while lights began to illuminate the interior.
A small explosion on the ocean surface had
triggered the power-up of the base. Computers came to life as air began to
circulate through the base in preparation for the first visitors in over 2,000
years. Some of the systems failed and secondary systems came online
automatically to replace the non-functional systems.
A young woman stood over a console, her
fingers tapping the holographic keys on the display before her. She shunted a
bit of power over to one of the sensor arrays and scanned the area of the
explosion. The sensors registered six humans adrift in the ocean, all of them
still living but unconscious. She tapped out a few more commands as she kept an
eye on the people above.
A large room lit up. In another part of the
base klaxons came to life and blared their warning to the empty room. A large
vessel shaped like a space shuttle from the television show “V” slowly lowered
from its resting place on the wall. Two red stripes on the sides of the vessel
lit up as the shuttle's engines powered up and self-diagnostics started.
The main doors to the room opened and a large
maintenance bot walked through them. Two amber eyes pulsed as the machine
scanned the room. The back of the vessel opened and the strange bot walked up
the ramp into the shuttle.
Once the door closed securely, and the
diagnostics finished, the shuttle let out a few beeps and whistles. The bot
turned slightly towards the cockpit, clicked, and whirred in response. The
shuttle vibrated as it lifted from the ground and slowly moved towards the
large hangar doors.
The air shimmered blue as a field snapped to
life just before the doors opened. The shuttle passed through the field and
into the cold ocean water on the other side. Picking up speed, the shuttle
hurried towards its rescue destination.
Two hundred yards from the unconscious
people, the shuttle, water cascading from its small fins, broke the surface of
the ocean. The large bot moved towards the door it had entered and made a few
clicking sounds. The shuttle responded with a whine as the back door slowly
lowered.
Back on the base, the strange woman monitored
the situation while the bot worked to bring the humans into the shuttle. She
reached over and touched a couple more buttons, shunting power to the medical
bay.
Two floors down, a large room lit up and
fresh air poured into the room as smaller versions of the large bot moved about
working. They cleaned and sanitized the room with special equipment, making
sure the room was bacteria free.
The woman looked down as the shuttle made its
way back to the base. She touched a few more buttons and stepped down off the
platform. She walked from the room and into a lift, which took her two floors
down.
When the lift stopped and its doors opened,
she started down the hallway towards the medical ward. Halfway there she
stopped and touched a panel on the wall. It lit up, showing the shuttle with
several more bots around it. The bots were loading the humans onto hovering
platforms. She touched a few keys, giving final orders to the robots, and then
proceeded to the medical ward.
Jonathan slowly opened his eyes so they could
adjust to the room’s bright light. He made a feeble attempt to sit up slowly as
his vision swam. However, he quickly closed his eyes to fight off the nausea
creeping into his stomach. The last thing he remembered he was swimming with
his friends and sister when something happened to the boat. Brad had yelled
something about an engine fire as he dived over the side and swam towards them.
Moments later a concussive shock wave from the explosion slammed into him, and
then darkness took him.
The Coast Guard must have found them, but how
long has he been unconscious? He slowly opened his eyes again and surveyed the
room. It wasn’t your typical hospital room or emergency department; there was
way too much hi-tech stuff. Things he had never seen in a hospital, although
some of it looked familiar. He noticed his friends lying on other beds, some of
them starting to come around.
His sister propped herself up on an elbow as
she took in the room. Strange words scrolled across the screen in front of her.
She reached up to touch the screen as she tried to make out some of the words.
Terri had been studying languages all her
life. Her parents traveled to various countries for the United States for
reasons she did not know nor could she understand. Languages had always
intrigued her, and she was fluent in about twelve different languages. She had
recently started studying dead languages, and a lot of the symbols on the
screen reflected Egyptian Hieroglyphs. There was a mixing of various other
glyphs, which she had never seen before. Terri’s mind spun with inquisitiveness
as she started trying to see patterns and tried to understand the symbols shown
on the screen. What she thought to be a solid surface was nothing more than a
hologram; she gasped as her hand passed through it.
Jonathan jumped off his bed when he heard his
sister gasp and made his way towards her. Without warning, the room seemed to
freeze as his steps slowed and then stopped completely. No matter how much he
struggled he couldn’t force his feet to move, even the air seemed to suddenly
go stale.
“Jonathan Hunter,” a female voice said from
behind him.
Unable to move he started to panic, he
strained some muscles as he tried to move again. His sister hearing her
brother’s name turned her attention away from the screen, seeing her brother
unable to move and a strange women walking towards him she started to panic. As
she tried to get up and go to him but found herself unable to move suddenly.
A female with bright red hair stepped into
his field of vision as she spoke, asking him not to stop trying to move so he
would not injure himself again, she was holding a small device in her hand.
Slowly she moved it from one side of his head to the other. Then she spoke
again, “I’m Atlanta.”
“Atlanta?” Jonathan barely mumbled.
“Oh, sorry,” Atlanta said. She moved the
device back up and tapped it a few times. There you should be able to speak
more easily." She smiled as she turned her back to him and surveyed the
still sleeping forms on the other beds.
“Where are we? Why can’t I move? What’s wrong
with my sister?” Jonathon asked in a jumble of words.
Atlanta turned back towards Jonathan, “I’m
sorry, I had to immobilize you and your sister before you or she hurt
yourselves. The nanites haven’t finished their jobs."
“Nanites?” Jonathan asked. Deep down Jonathan
feared the answer; he understood a nanites basic design, and theoretically,
what they could be used to do. Jonathan wondered if his day could get any
worse: first, the boat exploded almost killing everyone, then someone that
‘rescued’ them is holding them in a hospital-like room, and finally, a probably
psychopathic redhead has injected him with nanites that control his body.
“Yes, nanites; they’re repairing the damage
you sustained from the explosion. They’re also feeding you information about
where you’re located and our language,” Atlanta said. She turned and looked at
the read-out on one of the many screens.
Jonathan frowned, “Your language?”
Atlanta nodded as she turned back around and
gave him the once over.
“Well, I already know English,” Jonathan
said. He attempted to move again and quietly sighed with frustration when
nothing seemed to work. “Who are you and where am I?"
Atlanta smiled, “Yes, I know you know
English. That is why I’m speaking it. However, to do anything around here, you
will need to learn ‘our’ language. As far as whom I am, well that information
will be explained in time. As to where you are, I’ll explain it in a moment. I
need to check to make sure you’re healing okay."
“How bad were we?” Jonathan asked. He tried
to look down and examine himself but he was still frozen. A bit of panic
started to seep into him and he pushed it away.
“You were almost dead by the time I got you
and your friends here. Now you’re just about completely healed,” Atlanta
replied as she smiled. Atlanta may be an AI computer, but she understood the
fear coursing through Jonathan, so she tried to help him feel comfortable with
a genuine smile.
“How are my sister and friends?” Jonathan
asked.
Atlanta smiled, “I was right about you, your
compassion for others over shadows even your own wellbeing.” As for your sister
and friends they will be fine, the nanites are just finishing their healing for
them.
“Huh?” Jonathan asked frowning.
“While you were out and I was working to save
your life, all you kept mumbling was your sister’s name and asking about her
and your friends. This told me a lot about the person I was working on. I took
the time, once you were stable to look up your records. From those, I concluded
you would be the logical choice to be Commander. Strong aptitude in strategy
and organization, dedication to those you deem friends and comrades,” Atlanta
said.
Jonathan frowned, “My records?”
Atlanta nodded, “Your high school records and
reports from teachers. College entry test scores and your Navy application and
test scores.
“How do you have access to those reports? Are
you some secret government organization? What do you want from me?” Jonathan
said. He was becoming alarmed and began trying to move again.
Atlanta laughed, “Hardly Commander, I’m not
from any organization on this planet. As for what I want from you, well that’s
simple. I want you to take command of this base and get it fully operational
again.”
“Base?” Jonathan stopped trying to move, he
wasn’t getting anywhere anyways.
Atlanta nodded, “Atlanta Base.”
“Why me?” Jonathan asked.
“Atlanta Base has been dormant for over two
thousand years. I need you and your friends to bring it back to life and give
it a purpose again,” Atlanta replied.
“Two thousand years?” Jonathan muttered.
“Yes, I don’t have long before secondary
power systems fail, I need you to start the main reactor,” Atlanta said. She
watched his reaction, trying to judge what he would do next.
Jonathan thought for a second before he
replied, “How do I know you’re on the level? I mean you might just kill me
after I do what you ask. Wait, why don't you just start the main reactor
yourself?”
“I was expecting that question; I can't
because I’m Atlanta Base’s controlling Artificial Intelligence. There are some
things I’m restricted from doing,” Atlanta said.
“Such as…” Jonathan said, intentionally
leaving the question hanging.
“Such as, giving the command codes to start
the main reactor up and bring the base back online. Also, I can’t complete the
repairs myself, I am here to serve the crew and monitor the running of the base
as a second hand to the Commanding Officer, you,” Atlanta replied.
“If I don’t agree to help?” Jonathan said.
“Then you will all die when the ocean
breeches the outer pressure dome and floods the base. I took a chance to bring
you and your friends here, now I ask you to take a chance with me too,” Atlanta
replied.
Jonathan’s eyes flicked over to his sister’s
form lying on a medical bed five feet in front of him. He turned his eyes back
on Atlanta, his mind made up, “ok, how do I do this?"
Atlanta smiled, “I have already logged you in
to the base’s computer as the Commander of this base. The nanites should have
already received your command codes and I will instruct them to give you the
knowledge of how to start the main reactor.”
Jonathan nodded, “Yes, I know the codes now.
After I get this reactor up, you and I are going to have a long discussion
about what happened here.”
Atlanta nodded, “Yes, Commander.”
A shadow shifted as Atlanta and Jonathan
walked out the door. It stood up to its full height, a little over five feet
tall. Short dark grey fur covered it from head to toe; human-like eyes peered
out through the fur covering them. If Jonathan had seen the strange being, he
might have compared it to a Ewok from Star Wars. The only adornments on it were
a thin utility belt and a strange watch on its left wrist. A heavy sigh issued
from the being’s mouth as it turned and entered the vent it had used to access
the room. Slowly the form shifted and disappeared from sight.