Atria

Once back onboard the Poseidon, Marta was wide-eyed and curious about pretty much everything. So Mark, Annabelle, Rayven and Laruun took her on a quick tour of the Battlestar, while everyone else went for showers and then to bed.

Shortly after starting the tour, there was an announcement that they were going into light drive and that the trip to Atria should take about 4 days.

An hour or so later they finally returned to the royal quarters. Marta was still excited, and she was amazed at Laruun’s bedroom and then in total awe at the royal bedroom, but was confused at the large bed with all the little blankets.

That was the one thing Mark had changed ... with a bed that size, there was a big custom fitted sheet that was the base, but Mark had changed the big top blanket into smaller single person blankets, so he had to explain that the smaller blankets on top limited the stealing of covers and made it easier to get out of bed without waking others up.

Marta climbed onto the large bed and lowered her face to the soft blankets and was rubbing her face with them.

The next day, they introduced Marta to their routine while they were in transit. Lots of work outs, sports and sex, with the odd movie thrown in now and then, and then 4 days later, the announcement came that they were approaching Atria and would soon be in orbit.

Atria was a very small planet, even smaller than Savann. The planet was mostly ocean with two continents on it. The surface of the planet wasn’t hospitable to many species as it was simply too hot with surface temperatures over 50C in the sun and only dropping to around 30C at night.

As such, almost all life on the planet actually lived under the surface, which is one of the reasons why they were eager to join the Federation. Construx made tunnel building quicker, easier and safer, plus it gave them a way to leave the planet!

Surprisingly, the improved quality of life that the Federation technology gave them, quelled what many expected would be a mass exodus from the planet.

Atria only had a population of about 3 million citizens and all animal life was in the seas, so any fishermen only fished at night and they had fully covered boats, with cooled cabins. One of the advancements the Federation technology gave them, via the construx, was that they created a massive covered section that covered a fair sized bay as well as hundreds of square kilometres inland, this is where the fishermen stayed during the day.

Solara pointed out what appeared to be an extensive road network on the surface of the planet. She explained that it was just starting to be built when she left. She was one of the designers, which is how she knew all about construx. They had made some changes though as the road was also now covered by a shade centred on the road and including 5 kilometres on each side.

They had also found several plants that would grow in the heat, as long as they weren’t in direct sunlight. So much of their food production was done in the shade of the covering.

As they were flying over the surface, it was easy to spot where the various settlements were, as there were numbered landing pads on the surface above or near the communities. Those extra large pads, along with the road network and shades, collected energy from the intense sun and provided all the energy they would ever need for the communities below the surface.

Following the procedure on Savann, Solara and Rayven rock, paper, scissored to see who’s community they went to first.

Solara won, so she guided the shuttle to the smaller of the two continents, called Tharkasia, and then followed the coast until she found the landmark she was looking for. Similar to most other species, the majority of their population lived along the coastline. Maren made contact with the community and received instructions to land on pad 2, which spiralled open when they approached, exposing a massive hangar for them to land in.

There was a welcoming committee waiting for them as they exited the shuttle. Gyges went first and then started announcing as people exited the shuttle. Solara went second and was met with a huge applause. Last, of course, was Mark, which the crowd also cheered, but not as much as they had for Solara.

Solara took it upon herself to introduce some of the community leaders that were present, as well as introducing everyone to her long time friend, Sharka, who was there as well. Once the community leaders returned to their normal tasks, Solara and Sharka embraced and gave each other a toe curling kiss, their lower arms cupping each others ass and their ample breasts pressed to each other.

Mark, Gyges and Rayven all had noticeable bulges in their pants, from watching the two Tharkian women kiss, and the bulges did not go unnoticed. Sharka smiled as she looked at the impressive bulge in Mark’s pants. Solara, sensing what Sharka was thinking, told her that it was something that she needed to experience! Solara suggested they go back to her place, so they could help relieve their discomfort.

She led them on a mini-tour of the community on the way to her house. Solara commented that there didn’t appear to any of the original tunnels left and Sharka confirmed that they had all been rebuilt with construx. The original tunnels were uneven rock, dimly lit and prone to collapsing, whereas the new tunnels were well lit, smooth and stable.

The community itself looked very modern and oddly Earth-like. People pretty much walked or biked everywhere or used the public transit system which looked kind of like the lifts, except they followed designated roads or freeways.

Surprisingly, considering they were underground, it didn’t feel claustrophobic or confined and the air even seemed clean and clear, not stuffy at all. The main marketplaces were in huge caverns with the ceilings 20 metres high or even higher in some places and there were buskers and vendors on the street corners.

Solara herself was in awe of the transformation that had occurred since she’s been gone. Most things were still where they used to be, but had been rebuilt in the construx material, there was very little original construction left.

Sharka led them through the business community, which was closest to the hangars, and then down a long wide tunnel which actually led out onto the ocean floor, where they had built a massive dome under the water and had built rows and rows of what could be described as townhouses.

The sights in the underwater area were breathtaking. In lieu of yards with grass, most houses had rock or zen type gardens, the houses were all brightly coloured and there were lots of playgrounds and sports fields. This area was for living only, the business district was still in the caverns and tunnels.

Annabelle asked, “How do people go from community to community, or do you only travel at night?”

Sharka smiled, “We used to only travel at night, but a few years ago we finally completed the transportation network. It’s part massive covered freeway system on the surface connecting all the communities on the continent, then a huge underwater freeway connecting the two continents.”

People got around via a high speed hovering train version of lifts. They didn’t move as fast as lifts, but the planet was much smaller, so if you wanted to you could circumnavigate the entire planet within 12 hours.

The way they worked was kind of neat, each ‘car’ was independent and could carry up to 10 people, they only stopped at designated stops, but when in use, they would rise along side the elevated line and then, once up to speed, they would merge into an existing train or just continue on it’s own. Then when a car reached its exit, it would move off of the high speed line, then slow and descend to the stop.

Because most of the population lived near the shoreline now, they more or less made a ring road around the edge of the continent with a few roads that cut between two places with on and off ramps to each of the communities. Sharka said that the Dracosa, the species Rayven was, had pretty much done the same thing on their side.

They eventually reached Sharka’s place, which looked just like a normal house. She obviously lived alone, but there were numerous pictures of her and Solara on the walls, which prompted Annabelle to ask about their relationship.

Solara explained, “We have been friends since high school and then after both of our mates died in a tunnel collapse. We became closer friends while we were grieving our mates and eventually became occasional lovers, up until I was selected to be a trade representative. We haven’t seen each other in 10 years.”

After they had cleaned up, it was near lunchtime, so they made their way back to the marketplace and Sharka suggested a good restaurant.

The lunch conversation was light and mostly questions for Sharka about how things were going since they had joined the Federation.

Solara stated that she was amazed at the changes around there since joining the Federation. People seemed much happier, they had much nicer living quarters, it was now easier to visit other communities and there was much more sports and leisure activities.

When the girls asked if she was going to stay, she looked at Sharka, but said she liked being out and about, helping the whole of the Federation. Sharka smiled and just said to make sure they stopped by more often than every 10 years. Then Sharka said maybe she might do some travelling and could maybe meet up with them every now and then.

As they were finishing lunch, Mark asked about the senate chamber and where it was located?

Sharka said, “The senate chamber was at the undersea resort that was built halfway between both continents on the ocean floor. It was the main resort spot on the planet. It was actually several smaller domes connected to one huge central dome. There were several hotels and casinos, water slides, amusement parks, multiple golf courses and tons of other entertainment venues.”

After lunch they were going to take Rayven home and then the following day Mark was to meet with the senators, which they didn’t expect to take very long, since there was only 4 senators. Pretty much an east and west senator for each continent.

After hopping into one of the lift cars, Rayven picked the destination on the Dracosian continent. Rayven started to get nervous about going home, but everybody assured her they were there for support.

A couple of hours later they were passing by the huge resort complex on the ocean floor. It was like a whole other world, it was so massive, but it did look like lots of fun. Everyone started asking whether they were going to spend the night at the palace or if they were going to come back to the resort?

Mark said he didn’t have a preference, but Rayven was pretty sure they would be coming back to the resort.

When she was asked why, she said, “I’m pretty sure my parents are going to be quite upset and could easily disown me, when they find out I’m an heir to the throne, but I’m not going to be staying here, even though there isn’t actually a throne anymore.”

Liyana was worried now, “Do you think it’s a big enough deal that they would rebel or withdraw their support of the Federation?”

Rayven laughed, “Dad would be stupid to do that, if they’ve done what Solara’s people have done! Our people need the Federation!”

A couple hours later they were nearing the Dracosian shore and about 5 minutes after that they were dropping out of their train and entering Rayven’s community.

Rayven said the whole place looked different as they started walking in the direction of the palace. Along their trek, a person recognized Rayven and stopped to talk. Rayven introduced everyone to Mr. Brimmer, who was one of her teachers in high school. He was glad to see she was still alive and that many had feared the worst when news of the ship crashing en route to Atlanterra reached them. Eventually the conversation came around to the group going to the palace to see her parents.

Mr. Brimmer told them, “The palace doesn’t exist anymore! When your parents got news of your ship crashing, your dad announced there was no longer a need for the palace, since he was now a senator. They bought a house in the domes, moved out and had the palace demolished so the space could be redeveloped. Some people had suggested turning the palace into a museum, but your dad insisted the destruction of the palace would better symbolize our commitment to the Federation way of life and there was already museums about our past.”

Rayven was shocked, to say the least, as she asked, “So how do I find where my parents live now?”