Clara and Rick spent some time on the mountain near her old den at night, looking up at the stars. It was amazing at what could be seen with their new night-vision-adapted eyes, and it took them back to when they were on Mieni Atoll...
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Lt. Colonel Lance Corporal was hacking away at the brush near the airfield with his uncle's Vietnam War trailblazer machete. It was surprising to all that nobody ever explored the jungle until now. Ran and Gaz, on their way back from what would be eventually called Lovers' Lagoon, had discovered a pristine barrier coral reef on the northern side of the island, but what was most surprising was the fact that the majority of soft and hard corals were naturally phosphorescent versions of otherwise normal coral species.
There were already negotiations with the Parks department about using the gravesite of the USS Pennsylvania as part of the attractions of Animalia Tropical Island Reserve and Resort. But then he Lance had spotted a frog that he had never seen before near the edge that separated Nimitz Air Force Base from the untamed jungle. It had completely clear skin, but brightly colored organs and muscles. He took a picture of the frog with his IPod to send back to his superiors, and not long after sending it off, he got new orders to find as many new species before they have to return to Animalia for Valentine's Day.
It was February 12th, and they had already found more than twenty-five new species, divided amongst mammals, bird, reptiles, amphibians, and insects, one of which was a monkey-like creature that looked like a cross between a flying squirrel and a lemur; another looking like a true lyrebird, but only a quarter of the size, but all the abilities; a third seemed to be a finger-sized cross between Brazilian army ants and Peruvian fire ants, but with a bright green stripe stretching from the green mandibles to the tip of the abdomen; and a fourth was a horned chameleon that was only half the size of a similar species.
On the way back, Lt. Colonel Lance Corporal got the over 40+ new species, including the 13 new species found in the Illumination Reef as it was named, sent to his superiors. The very next day, the president opened negotiations between the U.S., Australia, and the Marshall Islands to help develop a low impact resort/Animalian colony for oceanic Animalians on Mieni Atoll.
There were also an inventors' contest on great, cost effective, means of energy production for Mieni Atoll. After only one week, there were over fifty entrants in the contest. One of the top entrants were "wind spinners", where wind power could be generated no matter which direction the wind was blowing by vertical sails catching the wind. Another one was "bobber generators" which used wave power to generate power.
People in Hawaii helped develop the all-natural cabanas that were key to the low impact resort. Two buildings of Nimitz Air Force Base were merged together to create Horizon Research Lab, Mieni Atoll. It was placed there to study the unusual creatures there, but also to keep an eye on the Animalia colony that was developing there, as well as help new Animalians with their remedial lessons.
A company in Spain that specialized in creating artificial reefs from concrete statues was also contacted to help develop the underwater colony for the fully aquatic Animalians. Rita and Ralph, now fully confirmed as mates, became official mascots for Animalia Nature Reserve and Resort. The strangest thing to happen was a large donation by Hawaii newspaperman John Sims, though why he was doing this, or where he got the money from, wasn't really known.