Read Birth of the Alliance for Free Online

valuable Energy. He'd be able to bring in the rudimentary computers and video screens and data storage systems he'd build back on Eden, and expand upon them. And he'd have the basics in place to create tillable soil for growing crops, raising livestock, and gradually turning the cavern into a self-sufficient community.
    With the basics taken care of, Will, and other Alliance members living there, could work on researching various technological advances. They’d need to figure out how to shield the entire cavern against Energy leakage, for example. A growing population of Energy users would eventually attract Sebastian’s notice. Will himself would build upon the basic microscopes and lenses Sarah and Anna had developed centuries earlier, building in additional magnification using electrical power, so that he could see the in workings of cells affected by ambrosia. Will had lived for seven centuries as a result of eating the fruit. He had only three left to figure out how to reverse at least one side effect, or his children would never come into existence.
    Will shook his head. There was so much work to be done. Even three centuries might not be enough to finish it all. He moved to the controls of the submarine and urged the craft toward Eden at higher speed.
    There was no time to waste.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    III
    First
     
    1710 A.D.
    They met at Boston Harbor at the appointed time. The six—three men and three women—were the forgotten members of society; those whom others would never give a passing glance. Each of the six carried a small bag holding their tiny life savings and their most prized worldly possessions. The bags were very light.
    The boat was exactly where the man had promised. It wasn't a large or impressive vessel, and it didn't seem the type of ship that could survive a storm. The potential lack of seaworthiness was of immediate concern given the threatening clouds on the horizon, and the salty air smelled of an impending storm. Distant rumbles of thunder drowned out the more pacific sounds of the waves rolling in the harbor.
    The faded name on the side of the boat, Seaworthy , struck each of them as ironic.
    They moved aboard the craft and pulled in the plank connecting boat to dock. As the six pulled in the anchor, a dock hand named Jonas untied the boat from the pier. The man glanced at the dark storm clouds gathering off the coast to the south, gave the passengers a curious glance, then shrugged, and moved away. The six passengers, traveling without a crew, moved to the oars, using their own arm power to maneuver the craft away from the dock. Once into the harbor, they turned the boat to face out to sea, unfurled the sails into the ever-chillier air, and set out on their journey.
    Three hours later, the storm reached the boat, tossing the small ship about. None of the six were experienced sailors, but the man had told them not to worry, even if the seas became violent and angry. Each of them listened. They held on to the mast and each other, teeth chattering in the cold rain and wind, hoping that they'd outlast the storm, hoping that their trust in the mysterious stranger hadn’t been misplaced. If their judgment was wrong, their time on this earth would end this day on the turbulent waves.
    The boat stopped thrashing a moment later, with a suddenness that jarred them. The wind and rain failed to reach them. Strange warmth permeated the air around them, smelling like peppermint, drying out their clothing and hair.
    And then he was there.
    “I see that the weather has cooperated.” Will pointed his hand to the side of the boat, and a portion of the wood splintered and flew to his hand. It was the section bearing the name of the ship. Will glanced at the six passengers, noting that Judith seemed the least fazed by the storm and his nullification of its effects. “Judith, would you do us the honor of tossing this overboard?”
    Judith blinked once, then nodded and accepted the wooden plank from