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The next couple of days, saw Mark spending much of his time in the gym sparring with people, playing sports and spending time with his various ladies.
The Commander announced over the ship's intercom, "Crew of the Poseidon, we will be exiting light drive in a minute and we should be in orbit within the hour.
Please finish up what you are doing and check in with your units. Exit the ship in a calm and orderly fashion. The shuttle schedule has been posted. Light first, transition to dark."
Mark asked, "What does he mean by 'light first, transition to dark'?"
Liyana explained, "When a ship like this returns home, the crew gets planetary leave, so the first shuttles to leave are the ones going to the side of the planet the sun is shining on starting where the day is transitioning to night, then shuttles leave throughout the day, taking people to their parts of the planet, so they arrive during the day. We will be arriving just before noon at the palace."
Everyone met in the landing bay next to Maren's shuttle. It was going to be a packed shuttle. There was 12 of them and one was Candy! They needed to discuss where everyone was going to sit as it was based on the order they were going to get out.
Liyana and Gyges would be the first to exit, so they would sit at the back. Then it was decided Elisha, Gerald and Annabelle would exit next, Gerald was the only one with luggage, but he was going to leave his bags on the shuttle and just take the camera. Then the girls would exit, so Liyana could announce them to the crowd. Candy would be first, followed by the others. Mark would exit alone last. Maren was going to stay on the shuttle, since she wasn't much for public appearances.
Once they figured out the seating arrangements, Mark looked around and made sure everyone was wearing their belts. The only people that would be unprotected were Gerald and Elisha. Liyana sensed his thoughts and assured him, "I will get them as far away from the shuttle as possible."
Soon the Commander announced, "The ship is now in orbit, shuttles may begin departing."
They boarded the shuttle and were on their way within a minute. Everyone was nervous and you could sense it in the ship. Gyges was probably the most relaxed person in the shuttle. After all, his job was being a bodyguard, so that's what he was doing.
Within a couple of minutes, the shuttle was touching down at the palace. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was huge, and white with a blue roofs on the towers and perfectly manicured landscaping around it.
They were landing at the official palace landing area, which was just outside the main palace entrance and there was a gentle sloping hill around the landing zone, making it perfect for people to sit to watch official events like this. The place was absolutely packed with people and media crews.
The senators were a well formed group of people wearing white togas, arranged on the palace steps. There was a podium positioned at the bottom with a path up the steps, between the groups of senators, not far from the podium was was a man in purple and gold, Mark guessed that was the Prince.
Based on the position of the landing zone in relation to the senators, it was unlikely that they would try blowing up the shuttle itself, as it would kill most, if not all, of the senators and likely the Prince, which would effectively kill the government. So the assassination attempt was likely going to be a laser or projectile weapon of some sort.
Maren landed smoothly and there was a collective breath of relief, when the ramp started opening. Liyana and Gyges exited first and Liyana walked down to the podium.
Liyana announced, "People of Atlanterra, I have brought back a number of distinguished guests today. Exiting the shuttle now is a news crew from the planet Earth, they are our first visitors from our ancestral world, please give them room to operate, as they are broadcasting this event back to Earth."
Gerald, Elisha and Annabelle exited the shuttle, took a look around and walked to an area in front of Liyana, but away from the steps and Gerald setup there.
Liyana then announced, "At last, after 10 years, we have recovered the trade representatives that crashed on Earth. I introduce you to Candaules, Laruun and T'Soona from Savann and Rayven and Solara from Atria," making sure she said the names in the correct order as they exited the shuttle.
Liyana gave them time to walk across the landing pad to the bottom of the stairs near the news crew.
Liyana then announced, "Finally, as I'm sure you all have heard, while I was on Earth I ran into a man whose genetic signature indicates he is a direct descendant of Atlas, the first King of Atlantis. We have ran numerous tests and all have confirmed the same findings, this man will be our new King! It is now my pleasure to introduce Mark Phoenix!"
Mark exited the shuttle, Cricket had already identified where the shooters were, there were three of them. She had two drones in the shuttle with Mark and they were sent out to scan the crowd as the ramp was lowered. She also confirmed they were using traditional ballistic style weapons.
Once he was a few metres away from the shuttle, he stopped and waved to the crowd. At that time, all 3 shooters fired simultaneously, Mark hit the ground like he had been shot, he hadn't of course as his personal shield protected him, but he wanted the Prince to think he had been killed.
People started screaming and running, but security were quick to inform everyone the shooters had been caught and that it was OK. Cricket found the shooters immediately and had informed Gyges before they had reached the podium. Gyges, in turn, had informed the other security where the shooters were, so they were all captured immediately and to top it off they had video of all three taking their shot. The drones could've stopped the shooters, but since it was ballistic based and Mark had a personal shield, they let the shooters shoot so they could record some actual footage for proof.
The network had actually had another camera watching the Prince... as soon as the shots were made and Mark fell down, the Prince had a big smile on his face.
When Senator Rigat, walked to the podium and asked for calm, everyone seemed to stop and listen. Since none of the Senators had moved from their positions, people realized they must be safe, so many were starting to return.
The Senator spoke, "What we have witnessed today was an unprecedented act of cowardice. The shooters are in custody and will be questioned, although I doubt we will learn anything new... since we actually found out about our cowardly Prince's plan several days ago."
The look on the Prince's face was one of complete astonishment at being called a coward, demanding, "Someone arrest the Senator, I'm going to have your head."
The Senator continued, "The senate has already met with our new king and he has our full support. Your reign as Prince of the Federation has come to an end."
The Prince was shocked, "You can't talk to me that way, I am the King, your new King is dead!"
The Senator rebuffed, "You were never the King, and you were a disgrace to our people as a Prince," he then turned towards Mark, who was still lying on the steps, "My King, you can get up now!"