Disclaimer: Joss, Fox, Universal Own em’. I’m just playing. No money being made. The situations come from my own twisted mind as do my original characters.

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AN: Here we go.... Earth

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Quest-Chapter Ten

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“...Fire at will...”

Three simple words that meant that Quest and all aboard her might live... and that any hope for setting foot on Earth might now be dashed.

But to set foot on Earth, they had to live.

Megan nodded at Sara's order and commanded the weapons control computer to do it's work. The system prioritized the approaching threats, analyzed the best course of action and then executed that action.

The laser weapons mounted on Quest were dual mode. They could fire using very little internal power using a chemical reaction between Chlorine and Iodine. It was also a solid state system powered by the ships fusion reactors. Combined, the system produced formidable power.

As each missile came into range, Quest reached out with an invisible beam. Six times the laser fired.

Six times, missiles exploded. None getting closer than fifteen miles.

“Status?” Sara asked.

“All missiles destroyed. We are still being tracked but no hard targeting radars.”

Sara let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, “Mel... see if you can raise anyone on the ground.”

“On it Sara,” The older woman replied.

Sara turned and looked at her father, “Any ideas, Dad?”

“I don't know. This seems a little paranoid for even the current day Alliance back home...”

“I've got someone, Sara,” Melissa interrupted, “A General Reed.”

“Put him on...”

“...repeat, this is General Reed. Commander of the Republic of North America Aerospace Forces...”

Sara keyed the microphone on her chair, “General Reed, This is the exploratory vessel, Quest. Captain Sara Bryant-Reynolds, Commanding.”

“Captain,” The generals voice began, “Where do you come from?”

“General, do you have video capability on this frequency?”

“Yes.”

“I am transmitting video of myself and the bridge of my ship. Are you receiving?”

“We are...”

A moment later, the face of a dark haired man in a uniform popped into view on the main screen. Sara smiled, “Hello General.”

The general frowned, “You look a little young to be a Captain.”

Sara's smile didn't change, “I get that a lot.”

Behind the general, several techs could be seen conversing.

“I repeat, Captain Reynolds. Where did you come from?” The General asked. His tone all business.

“A system we euphemistically call, The 'Verse. The original designation was 34 Tauri. Or the so called Blue Sun system. Where the great exodus from Earth in 2113 ended up.”

“Impossible.” the general replied, “The exodus was a failure. No word has been heard for over four hundred years. Not even radio signals...”

Allan stepped forward, “General, if I may...”

“And you are?”

“Dr. Allan Bryant. Captain Reynolds is my daughter. The reason why there has been virtually no contact is due to what I believe is a gas cloud that attenuates radio signals about eight light years out, located approximately on a line of sight between the Solar System and 34 Tauri. That's why radio telescopes on both sides were unable to 'hear' each other. It is only 20 light years or so. Cosmically speaking, just around the corner.”

The general nodded, “Why are you here?”

Trudy stepped forward into camera range, “General Reed. I am Trudy Wu, Ambassador from the Alliance of Planets. We are here to regain contact with out lost Brothers and sisters of Earth. To be honest, we didn't know if anyone would be left. We came to see.”

The general was taken aback by the beautiful blonde woman on the screen, “Very well,” he said after a moment, “I must contact my superiors. I will notify all defense sites to stand down. Your ship will continue to be tracked. Do not change your orbit or we will take that as hostile action. I will contact you again within the hour.”

Sara answered, “Understood General. But please keep in mind, we will defend ourselves. I know we got off on the wrong foot here but I do warn you. Any weapons fired at us will have their launch sites subject to mass driver bombardment. This is not a threat. We come in friendship but we intend to defend ourselves if attacked. Any orbital changes will be communicated to you in advance unless we have to avoid a collision with anything else in orbit.”

“Understood. Reed out...” the screen went blank.

“That went well...” Virgil quipped.

“Would have been nice if we had that conversation before they shot missiles at us,” Meghan added.

Sara dropped back into her chair, “Tell me about it. Did you notice the look on his face when you said your name, Dad?”

Allan nodded, “I did.”

“Sara. Coming up on the day side. The east coast of North America is visible,” Rachel interrupted.

“Put it on the main screen.”

“Oh god...” Allan whispered.

Even zoomed out, some of the cities Allan expected to see were not there. Allan went back to the optical logs as he had been busy talking to the General.

Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Seattle and Vancouver areas were dark holes with no lights on the ground. Now as Quest orbited over the eastern part of North America, detailed images showed where major cities had been.

Chicago was gone. St. Louis as well. New Orleans looked flooded. Detroit and Toronto were destroyed. As Quest headed further east, Allan had tears in his eyes.

On the zoomed in images, Washington DC was a cratered landscape and the Island of Manhattan was not even there any more.

“Rachel... what's the radiation level look like?”

“About eight percent above the historical baseline before the departure of the Exodus ships. The level seems about right for the remnants of a major nuclear bombardment approximately four hundred to three hundred fifty years ago.”

“That's what I was afraid of,” Allan whispered as the very familiar shape of Cape Cod was visible out the windows.

“Uncle Allan...” Rachel said.

“Yes?”

“Look at the screen.”

Allan blinked his tears away and looked at the screen, “Oh my god...”

Zoë squeezed her husbands hand, “What is it, Dear?”

“Boston is still there...” Allan said as he moved the camera controls around, Hartford is okay and untouched, Providence... Portland...” Allan smiled as he panned the camera north, “Burlington... Montreal... Quebec City... Halifax...”

“Why were those cities spared I wonder,” Trudy asked.

Allan looked up at her with a grim smile, “Because each and every one of those cities was within one hundred fifty miles of a Blue Sun facility...”

“What?”

“Air defense. Every Blue Sun plant had it's own surface to air missile defense system. The main aerospace shuttle factory was in Portsmouth New Hampshire. That covers Portland, Boston and Concord. The main radion accelerator core engine plant was in Montreal, that takes care of Quebec City and northern Vermont and New York. There were small factories in Newport Rhode Island and Worcester Massachusetts... those must have taken care of Providence and Hartford.”

“And Halifax?” Trudy asked.

“Hydrogen fuel processing...”

“Merciful Buddha,” Trudy breathed.

As Quest continued East, the British Isles came into view.

Allan swore under his breath.

“London, Manchester and Edinburgh are destroyed,” the eighteen year old said.

The sight became more depressing as the major cities of Europe came into view. Only Moscow and St Petersburg looked untouched as Quest crossed the terminator into night again. There were lights visible to the south along the Mediterranean coast. It looked like Italy hadn't been hit and the Middle Eastern cities seemed intact. What got Allan's attention when Quest began to cross Asia was how few lights could be seen in China. Where Beijing and Hong Kong were supposed to be was instead black holes.

As Quest once again regained line of sight on Hawaii, the image of General Reed appeared on the screen,” Quest... do you read?”

“This is Quest,” Sara replied.

“I have consulted with my superiors. They have agreed to a first meeting. However, we are concerned about biological contamination issues.”

“Understood, General. We have prepared a series of inoculations for our crew and for any in your party to guard against any thing we may be carrying.”

“And to protect your own people from us?”

“My ships doctor will be accompanying the landing party. She will be able to synthesize the appropriate inoculations as soon as we can obtain a blood sample from someone on the ground. In the meantime, someplace away from the general populace would be appropriate I think.”

“I agree,” The general replied, “I am sending coordinates to a location north of Las Vegas.

Allan grinned when he saw the latitude and longitude. He knew them well, “Area 51... They must still think we're aliens,” he snickered.

“Next orbit we will be sending down...” Allan held up two fingers, “Two auxiliary vessels that are capable of landfall.”

“Very well.”

“Myself, Ambassador Wu, my doctor and several other people will be coming down. See you then, General.”

“Until then, Capitan,” General Reed answered before cutting the transmission.

“Two ships?” Sara asked.

“Sara Jane and Free Bird. I'd suggest having Lt. Coletti and Lt. Commander Baxter on hot standby in their ASREV's.”

“A prudent precaution, Allan,” Trudy replied, “I'd like Commander Olsen to accompany me as military liaison.”

Sara turned to face her husband, “Baby... I need you to stay here on Quest.”

“Sara...”

“Ship needs her First Officer. And I need you to come and rescue our pi-gu's if it hits the fan.”

“I don't like it... But you're right,” Jeff replied.

Sara took a deep breath, “Dad, I want you and Mom to fly the Ambassador and Commander Olsen down on Free Bird. Rosie will be along as security. Becca, Owen, Sherry, Rachel and myself will go down in Sara Jane. We launch in half an hour people. Let's move.”

XXXXXXXXXX

“Is that necessary?” Trudy asked as Allan strapped on his vintage Colt 1911 pistol.

“More of a show of force,” The elderly engineer replied, “They could show up with a battalion of troops when we land. Just being cautious.”

Zoë nodded in agreement as she holstered her mares leg, “They see we're ready to defend ourselves. They might not force a confrontation.”

“It's good idea,” Commander Olsen replied as he checked his own pistol.

“At least we are going down in unarmed ships,” Trudy observed.

Allan glanced at his wife, “Not quite...”

What do you mean... not quite?”

“Sara Jane and Free Bird have hidden weapons systems,” Allan replied, “Defensive only.”

“I see,” The ambassador replied

As Quest crossed China, her topside and starboard docking bays opened. Free Bird followed closely by Sara Jane began their decent towards the surface.

“Why is young Rachel coming along?” Trudy asked as the ships began their reentry.

“You know about Rachel's... abilities. Correct?” Allan asked.

“I do.”

“Then you know why. She can sort out any duplicity before it even happens. That girl is a stronger reader than her mother was and just as formidable in hand to hand and with firearms as River. Add in the dirty fighting tricks her dad taught her and well... don't ever piss Rachel off,” Allan replied with a grin as he guided his ship deeper into Earth's atmosphere.

Allan noticed that the City of Honolulu was intact. He mused that any warships in port had been able to shoot down the inbound warheads. Probably the reason why San Diego happened to still be standing while Los Angles was a cratered wasteland.

Crossing the California coast, Allan settled himself into his seat and took over the flight controls from the computer. Beside him, Zoë gazed out the windows, a look of wonder on her face.

“Now you know how I felt that first time we landed on Boros,” Allan remarked as they began crossing the Sierra Nevada range at a little over 100,000 feet.

Zoë grinned, “I reckon you're right, Husband.”

“Where are we landing, Allan?” Trudy asked.

“About one hundred miles Northwest of Las Vegas. It's in the middle of a military training area... or it was four hundred years ago. It's basically the middle of nowhere.”

“You don't sound happy about that, Allan,” Trudy remarked.

Allan banked Free Bird towards their destination, “Seeing that the city is intact, I'd have rather landed in the middle of Boston Common...”

“If I remember my history right,” Commander Olsen began, “Isn't Boston where much of the American revolution started?”

“Yes,” Allan replied as he turned the small ship again. He flew the route into what was once called Area 51 from memory. It wasn't the first time he had flown into the base there, “If Boston is still called Boston, It will have been in existence for nearly a millennium now.”

Free Bird's warning system chirped announcing that the ship was being tracked on radar.

“Problem?” Olsen asked.

“Looks like an air traffic control radar. There's quite a bit of traffic in the air here. Looks like conventional aircraft. Sensors aren't picking up any sign of anti-grav.”

“Wasn't that technology available when you left?”

“Yeah,” Allan replied, “It wasn't in widespread use but I would think that it would be by now... okay. Here we go,” Allan replied as Free Bird followed closely by Sara Jane cleared the last ridge and the wide expanse of Groom Lake loomed before them.

“Big complex,” Zoë commented.

“Hasn't changed much either... Buildings are different from last time I was here but the big runway is the same..” Allan trailed off as he prepared for landing.

The base looked largely deserted except for a large and fairly conventional aircraft sitting on the tarmac. Several ground vehicles surrounded the aircraft. Allan smoothly landed Free bird several hundred yards away. Sara Jane alighted next to the smaller craft.

Allan flew through the shutdown. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“It's desolate but strangely beautiful,” Trudy remarked.

“And hotter than hell,” Allan commented, “It's about ninety nine degrees Fahrenheit out there. Bring your sunglasses too.”

Allan followed by Zoë, Trudy and Commander Olsen headed for the ramp. Rosanne Goodwin was waiting, ready to go down first. She was dressed in khaki cargo pants, a tan polo shirt with the quest logo on the left breast and wore a combat vest over that. She carried her Callahan Autolock at the ready. A pistol hung from her hip.

“Ready?” the security officer asked.

“Open her up,” Allan ordered as he slipped on his sunglasses.

Trudy was wearing a conservatively cut business suit while Commander Olsen wore his dress uniform.

Zoë dressed like she did every day. Pants, a soft cotton shirt and boots. Allan was in Jeans and a Blue Sun Polo shirt.

It was time to step onto Earth for the first time in four hundred plus years.

First down the ramp was Roseanne. Trudy was next followed by Olsen and Zoë. Allan came down last.

As the group emerged from the shadow cast by Free Bird, Allan looked to his right and saw that the ramp was descending on Sara Jane. Soon, Sara, Becca, Owen, Sherry and Rachel walked out of the ship and began making their way towards Free Bird.

Owen was dressed similarly to Roseanne while the rest wore the Standard Quest ships uniform. Allan grinned when he realized that his daughter was wearing a ball cap with her captain's 'scrambled eggs' on the top of the visor. He had given her that hat on the day that Quest had been commissioned.

Allan pulled on his nearly identical ball cap. While Sara's hat said BSS Quest on the front, Allan's said Free Bird.

Across the tarmac, about twenty five people could be seen. Some were obviously soldiers. A few looked to be civilian officials from their dress and two were dressed in what looked to be biohazard suits.

Sherry pulled out her hand held scanner, “Radiation is within safe levels. No pathogens detected.”

“Not much grows out here, Doc,” Allan said with a slight grin.

“Shall we go say hi?” Sara suggested.

“After you, Trudy,” Allan smiled.

They set off across the hot tarmac. Roseanne and Owen on the flanks as obvious security. Trudy in the lead, flanked by Commander Olsen and Sara. Next walked Allan, Zoë Sherry and Rachel.

“Anything, Kiddo?” Allan asked the teen aged psychic.

“Nervousness, anxiety... they think we might be aliens,” she grinned.

Allan snickered, “Figures.” Beside him, Zoë grinned.

As they neared the waiting group. The two people in the biohazard suits stepped forward. Surreptitiously, Becca thumbed the small remote in her hand. Her sunglasses were actually a remote targeting display for Sara Jane's weapons systems. If anything happened, wherever she looked, the Firefly's gun could fire.

The two technicians held a bulky scanner in front of them. Allan looked at it and realized that the technological level of the device was only a little more advanced than what was in use when he left Earth four centuries previous.

The device beeped and the tech's relaxed slightly. One spoke into his radio headset, “All clear.”

Three figures stepped forward followed by a pair of obvious security types. It looked like they wanted parity in security.

In the lead was General Reed. The officer they had spoken with earlier. He was flanked by one man and one woman. They were dressed in what looked like to Allan to be quite normal early twenty first century business attire.

“Ambassador Wu,” The general began as he held out his hand.

“How nice to meet you in person, General,” Trudy smiled.

Allan and Zoë shared a look. Trudy was laying on the charm. Her Companion training quickly turning the general to putty in her hands.

“The pleasure is all mine,” the officer smiled, “May I present Mr. Robert Pace, Secretary of State and President Janice Blackwell.”

Trudy bowed her head slightly, “Mr. Secretary, Madame President. I bring greetings from the Alliance of Planets. If I may, I would like to introduce everyone.”

“Please do, Madam Ambassador,” President Blackwell replied. Allan tried to hide a grin as he heard the woman's Boston accent. He never thought he'd hear that accent again.

“May I present, Commander Cordell Olsen, Alliance Fleet Aerospace forces, Dr. Sara Bryant-Reynolds, Captain of Quest.”

Sara and Cordell just nodded in greeting.

“Doctor?” President Blackwell asked.

“PhD in astrophysics, Ma'am,” Sara replied.

You are so young...”

“I get that a lot,” Sara replied.

Trudy smiled, “If I may continue?”

“Certainly,” the president replied.

“This is Dr. Allan Bryant and his Wife Zoë. They are also the Captain's parents.”

With the mention of Allan's name, eyes widened among the group of Earth dignitary's.

Trudy continued, “Next is Rebecca Tam, Quest's Chief Engineer, Rachel Cobb, Sensor Officer and Dr. Sherry Lee, our Physician. Also, We have crew members, Owen Son and Roseanne Goodwin.”

The two security officers nodded while keeping an eye on their opposite numbers.

“Welcome to Earth, everyone,” President Blackwell said with a smile, “Dr. Bryant... I must ask. Are you a descendant of the Dr. Allan Bryant who spearheaded the Exodus to the stars?”

Zoë and Sara rolled their eyes while Becca and Rachel snickered.

“Not quite, Madame President,” Allan replied, “I am that Dr. Allan Bryant. I was born in Newport Vermont on January seventh, 2167.”

“That's... impossible...” General Reed stammered.

“It isn't. I spent four hundred years in cryogenic suspension.”

“How...” President Blackwell said after a moment.

“That... Madame President is a very long story...”

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TBC