Dark as Daylight Ch. 11

I knew it would happen for Anna, dear sweet Anna, because she will be the perfect mother. I thought Robert would repopulate all of Maryland. He is not going to have any children of his own, because of the way he feels about the Chief Justices daughters. The way he has changed, over the years, has amazed us all. The Chief Justice has been a fantastic influence on him. He grew up to be a fine man.

Robert, and 'a fine man' in the same sentence; I can't believe I said that."

*************************

"Landing Gear Is Down and Locked."

Monty looked over at the gurney where Gordon was laying, waiting to see if Teddy's prediction was correct. He showed no sign of movement.

"Helm, Land The Good Luck 1."

"Helm responding, leaving 80 feet, 70 feet, 60 feet, 50 feet, 40 feet, Contact Light, 34 feet. Captain, The Good Luck 1, has landed on Atwater Luck at 14:07:33 U.S.T., or damn close to it."

A cheer went up around the ship, as those in the main sections began powering down the master control functions.

Teddy was very confused, and had huge tears running down her face.

Delicious asked, "What's the matter baby, we are on the ground, we are safe. You should be happy."

"Can't be happy, God lied to me. I not know God could lie. It means God can be bad, just like me. It means She not really 'Good,' she can be bad. I don't my want a bad God."

"Are you sure you understood what she said to you?"

"Yes, no mistake. Gordon wake up, find bomb, throw bomb away. No mistake mommy."

"Let's go see if Gordon is awake?"

They walked over to him as Dr. Finch was checking his vital signs. They were back to normal, but he was still sleeping.

Delicious asked, "Can I try speaking to him, Doctor?"

"Go ahead, he is still heavily sedated, and probably won't hear you."

"I have a family way of contacting him."

"Teddy close your eyes."

"Mommy, nose in corner."

"We can play Yahtzee."

"I like new game."

"Close your eyes, Teddy."

"Okay."

Delicious reached back, and slapped Gordon across his face so hard, she grabbed her hand, and screamed in pain.

She was hopping around the floor crying, holding her right hand, as if she had broken it.

Gordon sat up, and asked, "What is the matter with your mommy, Teddy? Why is she yelling?"

"Uncle Gordon, you up now. You save ship. We on the ground. No bomb yet. You must help, God say so."

"You are right, Teddy. God did not lie to you. She was not finished fixing my head. Never doubt that our God is a Good God. She loves all of us; but especially you Teddy. You are one of her favorites. She talks to you, because you have such a big and caring heart."

Teddy stated crying again, but this time they were tears of joy. Her faith in God was renewed, and she knew her God was truly a good God.

"I have to help the 'Big Captain' now, okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed Teddy and walked over to his sister.

"Did you hit me?"

"Yes, but look what you did to my hand, you bastard."

"Thanks for waking me up. Where is Zoey?"

"She is with Payne, on the 5^th floor."

"Thank you."

He started walking towards Monty, stopped, wheeled around, and smacked Delicious on her ass, as he did when he came out of the stasis chamber.

Delicious screamed in pain again. She started dancing on her toes, to the delight of Teddy, Gray, and the members of the crew.

"No nose in corner for mommy, daddy. She be punished enough."

"Are you sure Teddy? Remember once you change your mind, you can't change it back."

"Yes daddy; she have trouble sitting many days to remind her about today. Eat with other hand too."

"I guess God got her better than putting her nose in the corner."

"Yes, God did good."

*******************

Gordon went back to his doctors for a moment.

"Joe, you took a CAT Scan of my head; did you notice any difference?"

"No you had a perfectly healthy brain. There was no sign of the cancer reoccurring, or of any bleeding in the brain."

"How about you Hannah?

"I agree with Doctor Finch. Your brain was perfect in every way."

"Should my brain be perfect Doctors, or should there have been something that drew your attention?"

"I don't think so Gordon. How about you Hannah, did you observe anything out of the ordinary?"

"Except that the brain was inside the biggest pain in the ass in this spacecraft, I would say even your operation healed over perfectly Joe."

"The nerves, the nerves we saw moving around in the gel; are you telling us they connected to the nerves in your brain?"

"I am not a doctor. However, I believe it would be to your benefit to compare the Cat Scan you took after my operation, and the one you took today, to see if you missed anything."

The two doctors were off the bridge, and running down the stairs to the infirmary, without asking permission to leave from Monty.

She would remind them about protocol later.

Gordon's next stop was the Captain. "High Monty, I'm sorry I was out of it, during such an import time, during our descent and landing. Did I miss anything?"

"Do you mean anything, besides my heart attack?"

"Yeah, anything like that?"

"No, its' been quite."

"You know we are all idiots, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"While I was asleep, I realized Doctor Auberry told us the truth. He told us where he put the bomb. We just looked in the wrong place."

"That's not possible, Gordon. We had people go all over the Landing Gear, and it wasn't there."

"That's because Doctor Auberry didn't tell us it was in Landing Gear."

"He did too. It is on the discs."

"Dr. Auberry said, '...the bomb in 'The Elevator Shaft.'

We mistook that to mean the Landing Gear. All of us did, including me, when he used the terms Hydraulic Fluid Pressure, and Pneumatic Systems, because the Elevators run on those two systems.

Come with me, and let's get rid of the last obstacle that is keeping us from getting off this ship, and declaring Atwater Luck our new home."

"I am going to have Jack join us."

"Newton, too."

"Okay. Jack Daniels, and Newton Thyme to ELEVATOR #3. That is ELEVATOR #3, FOR BOMB DISPOSAL PLEASE."

********************

"Do you want a boy or a girl, Laura?"

"I want a boy, who looks just like you, Adam"

"That's weird, because I want a girl that is as beautiful as you. According to our by-laws, when she reaches the age of 16, I can have sex with her, and her mother, at the same time. I will be making love to twins."

"Ouch! Laura, stop it, dammit, I was only joking. When are you going to develop a sense of humor?"

"Tonight, when I have your balls in my hand."

"Ha ha very funny, do you see, Laura, I can take a joke."

"That's weird Adam, because I wasn't joking."

"I will still love you, when I am a eunuch."

"My bottom is my top, and my top is my bottom."

"I knew you had a sense of humor in there somewhere."

"Don't push it Adam, it's a very small sense of humor."

"That's okay, it will grow on you, just as I did."

"Do you mean painfully? If you did, you just made me a very happy wife."

"I will still love you, even if it is 'Painfully."

"George is making me say this, so don't let it go to your big or little head."

"I Love You Adam."

"Thank You, George."

"Ouch! Damn you Laura!"

"Painfully Adam, you said 'Painfully."

********************

Monty didn't get down to see the little package of C4, because of her knees, but the three men were talking about the ingenuity of the man who placed it where it was. It would have torn a hole in the spacecraft, at least 20 feet in diameter, and destroyed many electrical conduits in the process.

As Auberry said, '...they would be marooned on Atwater Luck forever.'

The second question was harder to answer. How did he do it, without someone seeing him do it, and not reporting him to security.

He must have surveyed this area for months, looking for a section of the ship, where camera coverage was non-existent, or minimal, and done it during off hours. His stealth was to be admired, unless of course, it was directed at you.

"I am going to disarm it, and we can add it to our stockpile of explosives, Jack."

"Okay, hand it to me, I'll throw it to Newton. He can lateral it to..."

"Enough, just disarm it already."

"Relax Monty, its already done. You can make earrings out of the blasting caps for Elizabeth, Newton. You know what you can do with this, Jack."

"Gee, thanks Gordon, I'm happy you are finally awake."

Gordon said, "Monty, as Senior Captain, the honor of stepping foot on our new home belongs to you. After you give this planet its name, and declares it ours, you can give the remaining crew members permission to descend upon it, and look around.

That is after the 3 of us verify that Dr. Auberry didn't leave us any more surprise packages in elevators 1, 2, and 4. Its' not that I don't believe he told us the truth, its' because I don't trust him. Is that okay with you Captain?"

"Yes that's fine. Take your time, now I have to think up something to say."

"I'll meet you two back here in 90 seconds."

"Gordon Luck, I should have killed you when you were four."

*****************

"Elevators 1,2, and 4 are clear, Captain."

"Little turd, I should throw you down this elevator shaft just to make sure you didn't put grease on the steps, so I would bounce down them like a ball."

"Would I do something like that to you, Monty?"

"You bet my ass you would."

"No, not today Monty, Today belongs to you."

"Bridge this is Captain Gordon Luck, lower elevator 3."

"Lowering elevator 3, Captain."

"Communications, verify all transmissions are ship-wide, and all exterior video camera are functioning at close range."

"Communications are ship-wide, and bringing cameras to close range."

"Go ahead Monty, this is your show."

"Your father should be doing this."

"He's here Monty. He has you to thank for it."

"I still don't like him."

"Yes you do. You like me, too, although you will never admit it."

"I'd rather kiss a frog."

"...and find a Prince?"

"I never could win with you. Let me get this over with. The quicker I make a fool of myself, the quicker I can start to recover."

She walked down the steps, very carefully, and when she was at the last one, she turned and saw Gordon, Newton, and Jack looking down at her.

Jack yelled, "Do a Neil Armstrong."

Monty replied, "With my luck, its' probably quicksand."

She looked out and saw what appeared to be a coarser type of green grass than on Earth. She raised her right foot off the step, pushed off with her left, and touched down 18 inches away from the elevator.

She said, "By the grace of God, I declare this planet Atwater Luck, our new home. May we treat her with the kindness she deserves, so she will treat us to the bounty we need to flourish.

This planet is open to all the peace loving people of the universe. What we have is theirs to share in full measure to our own. We will greet them with open arms. We will learn from them, as they will learn from us. Our God would not have created something so vast, and only let the tiny planet Earth contain sentient beings. We await their arrival, and lay their beds next to our own."

It took some time for the members of the Good Luck 1 community to understand the depth of Monty's statement, but as it took hold everyone applauded, and cheered.

"Way to go Senior Captain Montgomery Jameson, I couldn't have said it any better myself."

"Fuck off Even, we both know those were your words."

"No they weren't Monty. They came straight from your heart. If you don't believe me, ask Callie. She can't lie.

These people are your children. They will always look up to you, because of how you took care of them, during the harshest of circumstances. You will lead them for many years, and through many surprises.

Callie and I will be playing chess, unless you need us. Power down the nuclear engine to one tenth of one percent, once you have established your own power generating stations. It will not be hard to do. You have chosen the perfect landing site. It is time for you to lower the three remaining elevators and allow the crew outside the ship, to see and feel their new home."

"Bridge, this is Captain Jameson; lower elevators 1, 2, and 4."

"Roger Captain, lowering elevators 1, 2, and 4."

"All crew members that are not at essential stations may now disembark the ship. Please stay within visual distance, we do not want anyone getting lost on our first outing. Have fun. Captain Jameson, out."

Parents got their infants, from the nursery, and brought them outside to get their first breath of fresh air since their births.

Sensors displayed no form of abnormal viral activity on the planet.

Bacterial infections would be another matter. They could come from contact with foreign plants, or foods. Only time would tell if that occurred.

Until then, teenagers were free to tackle each other on the grass, and play, as they hadn't been able to do in over three years. It was July 4^th on steroids for them. Their parents let them do anything they wanted to do, ^{'within reason.'}

Families set up blankets to sit on with their young children.

Delicious, Gray, Teddy, were walking along the tree line, with Truman, and Tatum in hand made carriers, attached to their chests.

Teddy yelled, "Look mommy, my pony, all white, funny head, but my pony. It mine."

The native horse, with the enlarged forehead, and barrel shaped abdomen, had never seen anything quite like the small, two legged, creature, with the fiery mane, running at it before. Her species had never been hunted by anything with two legs. She was bigger than this little one, and almost as big as the larger ones she could see moving around. She stepped out of the woodland, and sniffed the air.

Teddy ran towards the creature.

Delicious yelled for Teddy to stop, but her cries went unheeded.

When Teddy reach the pony, she stopped. They looked at one another for a moment, until Teddy reached out her hand for the pony to sniff her scent.

The little horse walked towards it, until its muzzle touched Teddy's fingers, and licked them.

Teddy moved closer. She touched her cheek to the pony's neck, and wrapped her arms around as much of its neck as her tiny arms could reach.

The white pony rubbed its head up and down Teddy's head.

That was all it took. A bond of friendship was formed between the two beings from different worlds. Wherever Teddy went, the white pony went. Wherever the pony went Teddy went.

Wherever Teddy walked, the pony walked. When the pony trotted away, Teddy ran after her.

When Teddy went to her parents; the pony was right there with her. The pony feared none of Teddy's species, and Teddy's species seemed to like her. The little ones liked to rub their hands on her sides. She liked this, A LOT.

Gray scratched behind the pony's ear, because he heard all horse enjoyed it. This pony, not so much. He ran his hand smoothly across her flanks, this she enjoyed.

Delicious skipped the scratching part. She rubbed the pony's neck, as Teddy did. The pony looked at her, and sniffed the baby she carried. She rubbed their heads together, as if she were bonding with Delicious, as she did with Teddy.

Gray moved behind his wife, and told her she'd better reconsider giving Teddy riding lessons, unless she wanted the pony the pony to do it for her.

He got an elbow in the ribs for that remark.

A problem arose when it was time for all the families to return to the spacecraft for the evening. The little pony wanted to follow them in. She had to be convinced to go back into the woodland area for a while. It was a tearful parting of the ways.

Since there was no night time darkness, most of the older children had to be convinced, either verbally or physically, it was bedtime. They were brought back inside the craft, cleaned up, fed and put to bed. The babies were returned to the nursery to be cared for, as the adults gathered in groups to decide what was to be done, and in what order.

Gordon surprised them all, when he said their first order of business should be to get the spacecraft into 100% working order, before taking on any of the challenges that faced them on the outside. Replenishing the water in the spacecraft that was used on the way to their new home was paramount in his plan. If, in case of any unforeseen emergency, they had to leave the planet, and there was not enough water to provide for protection from the radiation and gamma rays in space, plus the amount of water they needed for drinking, eating and bathing, they would be in serious trouble.

The members of the engineering department agreed, and set a time of 0900 hours to begin working on a way of transporting the water from the stream to the intake valves, on top of the spacecraft.

After listening to Gordon, other concerns popped up, like sanitation, cooking fuel, the arboretum, wear and tear on the family spaces, and many others. They were prioritized. Working groups were set up, and a leader chosen from within.

The ship, which took thousands of man hours to be loaded, by physically fit men, now had to be partially unloaded, by men and women, who had trimmed down to their high school weights.

Even mighty Montgomery Jameson had trimmed down, by twenty-three pounds, since Dr. Hannah Daniels discovered she had a thyroid condition. For the first time, since she was a teenager, she now had a waist line, and a suitor. She had no idea how to handle him.

**********************

3:15 A.M Western Perimeter

Mortars started raining down along the northern most point of the Western perimeter, tearing apart the razor wire defenses, all along the openings made by the construction crews. They kept marching forward, until they destroyed the two watch towers, and the men, who were supposedly keeping an eye on that area.

The mortars kept marching forward, as the men from the 'Opposition Force' ran to the construction, and smaller vehicles, and began moving across the Western Boundary of the Deep Space Science Project's property. The heavy machinery made it 200 yards before they sank deep into the saturated ground. They sunk into the muck above their engines, wheels and tractor treads. There was no way to move them, or of getting them out.

The little trucks that followed them stopped, after seeing what happened to their larger comrades. They looked for a way around this massive bog, along the entire 8-mile fence line, and could find none. They returned to their starting point, and crossed, on foot, using the tops of heavy machinery to try to get past the muddiest areas. They were successful.

Successful that is, until they walked into the first minefield. It slowed their attack to a walk.

Then automatic weapons fire hit them from three quadrants, and most devastatingly, from above. Before they could effectively return fire, their numbers were reduced from 130 to 31.