The Journey of Atlantis- The Children of Earth

Not So Welcome Home

Captain William Collier liked to walk the bridge sometimes. He felt it let the crew know he was on the job. He was of course, but he could just as easily run the bridge from his bunk if he wanted. Enhancement had its privileges. The Captain could run the bridge twenty-four seven if he so desired. However, he only took the shift when his turn came around. His other commanders needed time in the chair if they were going to mature into capable bridge leaders.

It took some time for his crew to get used to the idea the Wanderer's captain had become an E-Human. Many of the personnel on his ship were wary of the machines. They knew they were necessary, but there had always been an undercurrent of distrust for their motives.

Today wasn't the day for those ruminations. The Atlantis and the Wanderer had just passed the orbit of Mars. It meant the starting line for the last sprint to Earth. Lightspeed communications were annoyingly long but not impractical at this distance. Atlantis had just sent a small armada of ships to head to the Moon and Earth to find and rescue survivors. They had picked up signals from three beacons. Two were coming from Earth and one on the Moon. The Wanderer and the armada were going ahead of the Atlantis to Earth. Atlantis still traveled sub-light to make it easier for them to thread their way through the debris which flew around. The sixty-five-mile long ship would get there in a couple of days and take up station in orbit around the Moon. The Wanderer will be in orbit around Earth to taxi survivors to Atlantis. Collier's crew roster had been light for the trip back to Earth so they could take the potential excess of survivors.

Right now, his ship had been loaded to the gills with a lot of medical personnel and supplies to treat the wounded. He suspected there would not be much need for their services. It had, after all, been eleven years since they had left. Any people left would not be wounded so much as needing rescuing.

The helmsman notified the captain over his shoulder. "Captain, approaching lunar orbit."

"Thank you, lieutenant Donaldson. Slow to one-tenth light speed and put us in a high orbit around Earth. I don't want to be pummeled by any busted-up satellite debris."

"Aye, Sir."

Fifteen minutes later Donaldson gave the captain an update. "Approaching Earth orbit,"

Communication specialist M'Butu nearly jumped out of her seat. "Sir, one of the Atlantis's search and rescue shuttles is in contact with four locations. One on the Moon, and three on Earth."

"Contact the Armada and have them choose one to be a runner to the Atlantis when we get more information on these contacts."

"Aye, Sir," as she turned back around to her console.

"Earth orbit established sir," Donaldson said.

"Display Earth on the screen."

"Aye, Sir."

Bill had some anxieties about seeing Earth. Could not wait to see home again, but at the same time, dreading what he might see. He slowly rose from his seat. "Oh my God!" He said out loud. For he was another witness to the beating Earth had taken. Had this been a lifeless planet, like Jupiter, he could be scientifically objective to the destruction. This world used to be teeming with life! Although he had been prepared for what he might see, it still made him weak in the knees. He sat down in his chair before he fell.

Earth had indeed taken a beating. There were so many craters! Just on this side of the planet, he counted twelve. No telling how many fell into the oceans. There were very little of anything along the coast anywhere on the planet. There must have been many tsunamis which wiped out and washed out to sea everything for hundreds of miles inland. Of the twenty-two city-sized domes which were built before departure, only two seemed intact. There were seven others domes with minor damage. It was undetermined if they may or may not have life in them.