Charger the Soldier (39 page)

Lycan
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope
(from the Greek) is a mythological or folkloric human with the
ability to shapeshift into a wolf or hybrid wolf-like creature,
either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction
(e.g. via a bite or scratch from another werewolf).

MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

nanoparticles
particles between 1 and 100
nanometers in size. Nanoparticle research is currently an area of
intense scientific interest due to a wide variety of potential
applications in biomedical, optical and electronic fields.

plasma
one of the four fundamental states of
matter, the others being solid, liquid, and gas. A plasma is an
ionized gas, into which sufficient energy is provided to free
electrons from atoms or molecules and to allow both species, ions
and electrons, to coexist. In industry, plasma torches are used to
cut metals.

quantum entanglement
In quantum physics,
entangled particles remain connected so that actions performed on
one affect the other, even when separated by great distances. The
phenomenon so riled Albert Einstein he called it "spooky action at
a distance."

redshift
In physics, redshift happens when
light or other electromagnetic radiation from an object is
increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the
spectrum.

R/T
the performance marker used on Dodge
automobiles since the 1960s. R/T stands for Road/Track. (See below
for the definition used in the book.)

Shillelagh
This particular type of alien
fighting machine was named after the Ford MGM-51 Shillelagh, an
American anti-tank guided missile designed to be launched from a
conventional gun.

star-in-a-jar
Nuclear fusion is nature's
atomic power - it is what powers the sun and, if it can be made to
happen on Earth on a large enough scale, promises to solve all of
mankind's energy problems. It would be clean, last forever and
create no long-term nuclear waste. One experimenter claims to have
achieved it using simple sound waves. Sonoluminescence is a process
that transforms sound waves into flashes of light, focusing the
sound energy into a tiny flickering hot spot inside a bubble. This
star-in-a-jar effortlessly reaches temperatures of tens of
thousands of degrees, hotter than the surface of the sun.

supersymmetry
In particle physics,
supersymmetry is a proposed type of space-time symmetry that
relates two basic classes of elementary particles: bosons, which
have an integer-valued spin, and fermions, which have a
half-integer spin.

telematics
the branch of information
technology that deals with the long-distance transmission of
computerized information.

telomeres
an essential part of human cells
that affect how our cells age. Telomeres are the caps at the end of
each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, like the plastic
tips at the ends of shoelaces.

Tesla coil
a form of induction coil for
producing high-frequency alternating currents.

Titan
the largest moon of Saturn. Thought to
be a prebiotic environment rich in complex organic chemistry with a
possible subsurface liquid ocean serving as a biotic
environment.

Toba
The Toba eruption occurred in Indonesia
about 71,000 BCE. Its erupted mass was 100 times greater than that
of the largest volcanic eruption in recent history. The eruption
deposited an ash layer over the whole of South Asia, the Indian
Ocean, and the Arabian and South China Seas. This event may have
caused a global volcanic winter of 6–10 years and possibly a
1,000-year-long cooling episode.

Ununseptium
a super-heavy artificial chemical
element with temporary symbol Uus and atomic number 117. It is the
second-heaviest of all the elements that have been created so far
and is the second-to-last element of the 7th period of the periodic
table.

Wankel engine
a type of internal combustion
engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into
rotating motion. Over the commonly used reciprocating piston
designs the Wankel engine delivers advantages of: simplicity,
smoothness, compactness, high revolutions per minute and a high
power to weight ratio.

Wendigo
a half-beast creature appearing in the
legends of the Algonquian peoples along the Atlantic Coast and
Great Lakes Region of both the United States and Canada.

Woodhenge
a Neolithic henge and timber circle
monument located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, 2 miles
north-east of Stonehenge and just north of Amesbury.

Terms coined specifically for this book

blink system
a technological triumph, it
requires a massive system of orbital satellites, quantum computers
and devices surgically attached to every human around the globe.
Each device is numbered and cataloged, then integrated into a
global network of systems and subsystems which any individual can
access virtually. This allows a traveler to pick a destination and
activate the transport, or the blink, which will remove him from
his present location, then reassemble him instantly, molecule by
molecule at the desired destination. Similar, in a way, to the 20th
century telephone system. One can call up the address where one
wishes to go, then be deconstructed and reconstituted all in a
blink.

Dinosauroids
Troodon dinosaurs developed by
the alien Grays into super-intelligent creatures meant to be
servants

fifth dimension
consists of the three
dimensions all humans experience, plus time and space, coupled with
an elevation to a higher plane of existence. A being in a fifth
dimension could observe and interact with a being of the third or
fourth, but the reverse is impossible. A quantifiable plane of
existence where the observer experiences all the dimensions
simultaneously, as if they are one.

First Ones
a small group of humans were
selected by the alien Grays for development into super-intelligent
beings suitable as servants, called humanoids. Some of these
escaped the Grays, developed a great empire and evolved into the
Age of Energy, where they discarded their physical bodies and
became known as Enoch.

Hyborg
a combination of hybrid and cyborg,
applied to physically and mentally altered soldiers

Mahouds
a branch of the First Ones which went
off on their own and settled Atlantis

Mavens
the name given to bright students whose
DNA is manipulated in order to create highly intelligent experts in
particular fields, who are intended to quickly find new ways to
reclaim the planet after the Mahoud-Earth war.

Megiddo max
Megiddo maximum security
prison

R/T
Resurrected terminus, or living dead

Taskers
a class of robots built by the
Mahouds

Taskoids
Tasker robots which acquired the
ability to make decisions

time-lock
created by the alien Grays, this
device isolates matter and energy from the normal flow of time

I grew up on an
isolated homestead in northern BC, and fell in love with books as
soon as I learned to read. I wrote my first story when I was
twelve. I've lived and worked in various places in North America
but have been writing full time for nearly thirty years in the
beautiful temperate rain forest of the Pacific Coast. My fourteen
published books include humor (about cats), romantic suspense,
mainstream, short stories, and lately, science fiction. In my spare
time, I play bridge, do crosswords, and read other people's
stories.

If you'd like to read my interview at Smashwords, go
to:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/leatassie

Connecting

Visit my website
http://thechargerchronicles.com/

Subscribe to my blog
http://leatassiewriter.com/

Favorite my Smashwords author page
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Email me at thechargerchronicles at gmail dot
com.

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it,
won't you please take a moment to

leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

Adventure:

Tour into Danger

Cat Humor:

Cats in Clover

Siamese Summers

Cat Under Cover

Cats & Crayons

Mainstream:

A Clear Eye

Double Image

Deception Bay

Science Fiction:

Green Blood Rising

Red Blood Falling

Shockwave

Short Stories

Harvest (collection)

Too Blue

Ra's Revenge

A Proposal of Marriage

Grand Champion

Early Retirement

See more details at
http://leatassiewriter.com/
or at
your favorite retailer!

Charger the Weapon

The Charger Chronicles

Book 2

Available in late summer, 2016

PROLOGUE

D
art speaks to Reader:

Are you ready for the second instalment of
humankind's history? I hope so, because time is growing short. The
forces that hate Earth and mankind will be here within a few days.
But we have time to test your memory on the first one, Charger the
Soldier. What do you remember about that?

Yes, this is the year 4800 CE and I'm one
thousand and eighty-three years old. And yes, I'm also the last man
to walk the face of Earth. But that wasn't quite what I was looking
for.

Oh, you don't like exams? But everyone has to
write exams. It's a condition of being civilized. Or maybe a
condition of being educated. I really don't remember.

How do I know all this history if I didn't
live through it? Easy! Charger himself told me some of it and
Charger is my father. Well, sort of. The rest I learned from the
Tasker and Dinosauroid records.

Now, Reader, I'm supposed to be the one
asking the questions. Tell me what you remember from the first
instalment.

Yes, the alien Gray race landed on Earth
millions of years ago and messed with the DNA of both dinosaurs and
humans. Though, personally, I wouldn't call it 'messing.' After
all, the Grays were so advanced that, in comparison, humankind
looked like worms.

Ha ha! Earthworms. All right, Reader, you're
feeling pretty frisky this morning, aren't you? Of course, you
already know that Charger is going to save you from the forces of
evil. But what will happen to me?

Oh, you think Charger will save me because
I'm his son. Reader, you don't know Charger!

But let's revisit the 'Earthworms' for a
moment. Just imagine going back to cave-man days with a time-lock
device, for example, or let's push it a bit and say a Bic lighter
from early in the twentieth century. Flick that lighter and produce
flame in front of cave people. They'd worship you as a god because
you could make flames come out of your hand. The point is, we're so
advanced there's no way we could explain to a primitive human what
a time-lock device is. And the same applies to us in comparison
with the Grays.

You got it, Reader! All advanced technology
looks like magic when you've never seen anything like it before.
Now, tell me about the Mahoud-Earth war.

Hm. Yes, it was humans killing humans, as
usual, except that Earth people thought Mahoud people were aliens
and many of them went on thinking so even when they learned
different. Yes, as you say, head-in-sand type behavior.

You want to see the big underground forest
cultivated in Somalia by the First Ones? I'm sorry, but that isn't
possible. Our limited time is not the only reason. You'll learn the
other very soon.

Did the spaceship Loki reach planet GHQ179?
Eventually. Much later than they expected to.

One last question. What do you think of
Charger now?

He's a hero? Not a killing machine?

Well, I will admit that he did what humans
told him to do because he wanted to save them. And because he
obeyed orders, humans came to regard him as a hateful monster and
wanted to destroy him.

Yes, I'm sure if I were treated that way, I'd
be angry, too. I can't deny that his solution to most problems is
to simply wade in and kill everybody.

Am I glad he's on our side?

You bet!

Now let me tell you what happened to the
Mavens who stole the old alien supply ship and escaped into
space.

Chapter 1 Creating a new Eden

E
lvin and Eve sat on their
second-floor balcony during a clear evening and discussed the
events of the day while their internal video cameras played back a
colorful sunset vista of the red dwarf sun sliding down the sky and
disappearing below the horizon. They both still spent long hours on
research and organization, but never missed taking that break at
the end of the day.

"Things are going so well now," Elvin said,
"that sometimes I forget how scared we were – and how ignorant –
when we stole that cargo ship."