Darla and Maya were far more aware of the flight to Mieni than they had been on the flight from South Africa to Miami and then to Lyre, though both had to admit that they were presently Animalians, which had come with a fair number of different circumstances than before. It wasn't so much that they were unaware that they were being moved before, but back before their uplifting they were not aware on how they were being moved. Now as Animalians, they did understand, and to the surprise of many on the specialized plane, they were fascinated with the concept of flight.
The two West Indian Ocean Coelacanths marveled at the flight and frequently voiced their awe as the plane lifted into the air in Lyre. In some ways it made sense, as flight was something that essentially defied one of the fundamental laws of nature, gravity. It was this that often attracted a lot of people's attention and fascination with birds and certain insects, as they could fly naturally. Of course for Darla and Maya, being newly uplifted, their wonder at the plane's flight from Lyre to Mieni was noticeable and earned some amusement from their fellow travelers.
"Amazing being so high up, isn't it?" a voice asked from beside them.
They looked over to the aisle seat on the plane and found Molly seated there with a smile on her toothy beak. While the Dolichorhynchops Animalian was looking into getting into competitive swimming again, and was more than willing to wait for the next set of contests that Animalia would have that would equal the Summer Olympics, she had been more than willing to help Horizon out when they needed help. Horizon had hoped that Ariel would be available to give Darla and Maya the tour, but the Lake Trout Animalian had been asked to do a couple of small events, that had her essentially sing the same pieces she'd performed for the past Super Bowl and thus wasn't available.
So, Horizon turned to Molly, who was available and since the project that had uplifted Darla and Maya was part of a request that related to “Dinotopia Aquatica” and the Dolichorhynchops Animalian easily fit in that category. Molly accepted and Darla and Maya both enjoyed meeting her and learning more about Animalia from her. Their meeting was also such that it was revealed that the two coelacanths did not instinctively remember the marine reptiles that went extinct at the end of the Mesozoic Era, but it still went well... and Darla and Maya both smiled a bit as they thought back on it.
++++++++++++++++++++++
"Amazing... I'd never thought such a creature ever existed!" Maya stated as she first looked to Molly after the Dolichorhynchops Animalian arrived at Horizon.
Doctor Stein had explained more of Animalia's rules and edicts, which both coelacanths found to be logical and appropriate while they waited for Molly to arrive. It had been an interesting conversation, though their surprise at seeing Molly proved to be a surprise for the two technicians who'd helped in Darla and Maya's uplifting.
"But weren't coelacanths supposed to live alongside the dinosaurs?" one of the two technicians asked.
"Dolichorhynchops WASN'T a dinosaur," Molly corrected, as that had been something that some people easily got confused on. With kids she was relatively okay with that, as that was something that she was willing to allow to help them learn, but it did get a bit annoying when some adults held that thought and even insisted on it.
"Our species may be sixty five million years old," Maya added, "but WE aren't sixty five million years old."
Darla nodded in agreement while Doctor Stein stepped forward and raised his hand to his mouth and coughed into it to clear his throat. That soon turned all attention to him.
"Darla, Maya, I've explained to you the best I can with regard to Animalia and its rules," Doctor Stein spoke when they turned their attention to him, "This is Molly. She's also part of Dinotopia Aquatica."
"But she said she wasn't a dinosaur," Darla looked to Doctor Stein with some puzzlement.
“She isn’t a dinosaur,” Doctor Stein admitted, “However, many people have equated any large reptile from the Mesozoic Era with dinosaurs. In this we’re playing more to a general assumption than anything else.”
The two coelacanths shrugged and then looked to Molly, who managed a polite smile and offered a webbed hand to them. Both Darla and Maya shook Molly’s hand eagerly with some curiosity at meeting her. Molly returned the handshake with a small smile and soon led the two out for the tour of Animalia and explaining more on its rules and what was expected with regards to Dinotopia Aquatica. This soon led into questions about Molly in particular, which she was happy to answer.
“So, you asked to become this extinct reptile?” Maya asked.
“Well… the main thing for me was to get back in shape for swimming,” Molly answered, “As I lost my shot at the Olympics thanks to a shark attack.”
Both Maya and Darla shuddered. While they didn’t instinctively know about marine reptiles from the Mesozoic Era, they DID have some memories of sharks. The two of them had managed to survive, but they did remember sharks to be predators.
“Joining Dinotopia Aquatica was something that Horizon offered as a bonus,” Molly continued with a small shrug of her shoulders, “and in a way, I actually like the choice I made. There was a natural history special that actually covered the life of a Dolichorhynchops that survived a shark attack back in the Mesozoic Era.”
“Sharks…” Darla gave a disapproving shudder.
“Are a part of nature, just as any animal is,” Molly answered, “and while I can understand a fear of mundane sharks… don’t let that rule you or cloud your judgement. Animalia has many members, some are predators and some are herbivores… and in some cases they all preyed on each other before they were uplifted, and yet as Animalians… they get along like the best of friends.”
“They do?” Maya asked curiously.
Molly only nodded as they walked along. She showed them the pool area in Lyre, though gave them the warning that that water was chlorinated, and would be poisonous to the fish Animalians. It was fairly busy, as with the arrival of summer came the summer heat and pools were always attractive for those looking to beat the heat. Molly also took them past some of the sites in Animalia, including the Claw Coliseum, which while it sounded like it was purely for combat sports was also a large gym and fitness area that included a pool. Molly also included some mention that after Ariel and Ran were uplifted, the pool was cleaned and freshwater was put in, at least for Ariel’s needs. And since Ran moved to Mieni where he met Gaz and was now helping run the Mieni colony’s main operations, there was no need for a saline pool for the moment.
Darla and Maya were also amazed by all the Animalians they met on the street, who were more than willing to say “hello” and did so in a very friendly way. They liked and respected their friendly nature, but the biggest thing that struck them was that there were so many different Animalian species and that some of them were exactly as Molly had described… predator based Animalians and prey based Animalians, and they all got along well. There were a few rabbit Animalians talking with fox Animalians about their day, their jobs, and for one female Fox Animalian, her pregnancy.
They also saw at a distance a male Stegosaurus Dinotopian walking with a young human woman and holding hands. The male patted the back of the woman’s hand, who smiled to him in return. It was something that showed to the two coelacanth Animalians that humans and Animalians could easily get along, though they didn’t get close enough to find out the exact details of the scene they observed. They didn’t feel they needed to, and it brought them back to Molly’s story about a shark Animalian running one of the colonies.
“And you said that this “Ran” runs this island colony?” Darla asked, “Mieni?”
“Yes,” Molly answered, “though, Mieni is an atoll… several small islands in a ring around a central lagoon. It became a pretty big tourist attraction once Animalia was able to acquire it. In fact many of us in Project Mesozoic/Dinotopia will be going there soon.”
“Even you?” Darla asked.
“Even me,” Molly chuckled, “I don’t mind the pool… but since my conversion… a part of me feels a bit cramped just swimming in a swimming pool. It’ll be nice get out into deeper water and explore… Maybe do some fishing…”
“Fishing?” Maya gasped.
“Dolichorhynchops is every bit a predatory animal as a shark is,” Molly told them, “but one of Animalia’s chief edicts is that no Animalian may eat another Animalian.”
Darla and Maya then nodded, with some realization that they had been with an Animalian that was based off of a predatory animal that was bigger than they were as mundane coelacanths. And Molly had never made any aggressive or predatory move toward them. That might mean she was right that the shark Animalians wouldn’t be a threat.
“Could we go with you, see this Mieni?” Maya then asked, “Maybe meet these sharks there?”
“I don’t see why not,” Molly commented, “Horizon may want some things for their science projects… but I’m sure some arrangement could be arranged.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And in the end, an arrangement was reached. While Horizon Labs had its main headquarters in Lyre and had profited in many ways from the surprising successes of Animalia. That success included new branch offices that soon had its own scientists as well, and while the main offices might want some information regarding Maya and Darla’s tissue and DNA samples as part of the request received by someone wanting to become a Dunkleosteus Animalian, which the two coelacanths could help with as they were from a species of bony fish that was old and would allow Horizon to work with the step by step process.
However, while they were adapting to being Animalians, it was agreed to let some of their “acclimation” go on at Mieni, which made some sense as they were marine fish already. And that was what got them on the airline carrying many of the Dinotopians, Animalia Ambassadoria, and others to Mieni. They enjoyed the flight very much and were amazed by how blue the ocean was from the air.
“Yes, it is amazing,” Darla commented, “Have you flown before?”
“I had a few flights for family vacations and as part of my training for the Olympics when I was trying for it,” Molly commented, “it is amazing being so high up…”
“And yet you became a plesiosaur,” Darla commented.
“Well… I really liked swimming,” Molly gave a chuckle before the plan was suddenly buffeted by something.
Not long after, the plane’s captain cut in to report that they were beginning the landing cycle and had everyone buckle in. Maya and Darla both did so, but they were surprised by the heavy buffeting that they felt as the altered 747 came in for a landing at Mieni. The reason for this was actually Mieni’s small airstrip. It was active for the colony’s use, but with its origins going back to World War 2 and its prime use being in the early Cold War, the airfield at Mieni was not long enough to land a Boeing 747 normally. It was best suited for smaller one engine fighters and short range two piston engine patrol planes, not massive four engine jets.
Thankfully, though, the modifications that had been made to the plane included improvements to the breaking system, additional break flaps, and mechanisms in the engine that would allow them to reverse the jet thrust once on the ground. The modifications had enabled the plane to stop in a shorter distance, and it did work, though, it also had its own potential shortfalls in that committing to engineering system to increase a massive airliner’s ability to stop also had the potential to increase structural stresses on the plane and would require that Lyre/Animalia’s airport keep a dedicated team of mechanics on hand just to maintain the engines.
“The stop in Hawaii wasn’t like this,” Maya commented, remembering a refueling stop they’d made in Hawaii on the way to Mieni.
“That was on a much larger airport,” Molly answered, “according to Google Earth… Mieni’s airfield, while it is serviceable was never built for planes this big. My guess is that Boeing had to do more than modify the interior so that Dinotopians could fit in the seats in order to allow it to land safely… and it’s that that’s making the landing feel rough.”
“What about the other plane, the one that followed us?” Darla wondered, remembering seeing another plane get onto the runway at Lyre after their plane had taken off.
“That was a MUCH smaller plane that won’t have a Boeing 747’s size and momentum issues,” Molly assured them, “and they may have had to make even more refueling stops than we did. So, hopefully by the time their plane arrives at Mieni, we’ll be safely landed and on the ground while the plane then returns to Lyre.”