Charger the Soldier (8 page)

The natives stared at the silvery bullet
shape of the spaceship rising into the blue sky. As it disappeared
over the horizon, the shaman fell to his knees and shouted, "It was
a god! We have offended a god! We must atone and make offering so
he will come back and bless us."

They atoned for a good long time. Over
hundreds of years, they drew pictures in the desert by removing the
red pebbles and uncovering the whitish ground beneath. These
hundreds of shallow lines ranged in complexity from simple
geometric designs to figures of hummingbirds, spiders, fish,
lizards, flowers, and trees. The artists worked in an area that
encompassed a hundred and ninety square miles, and the largest
figures were eight hundred feet tall.

In spite of this impressive effort, the god
did not come back. Instead it flew north to pre-Olmec territory in
south central Mexico and landed at the edge of a village. This
time, however, its appearance did not result in an attack.

The Tasker walked into the middle of a fight
between two clans over the ownership of a heavy rubber ball, a new
artifact to the area. The robot picked up the ball and examined it,
while the terrified fighters knelt or lay on the ground, some of
them covering their eyes.

When the Tasker finished his inspection, he
tossed the heavy ball to a kneeling fighter. It fell through the
man's paralyzed fingers. The Tasker picked it up again and threw it
to the opposing group, trying to discover what use they made of the
peculiar object. This man also dropped the ball. Because nothing
interesting was happening, the Tasker's programming caused it to
move on to the next task.

But the actions of this sky god resulted, as
the years passed, in the practice of having ball games to settle
disputes, which eventually became a sport that was popular well
into the twenty-first century. The god's appearance also resulted
in the practice of carving giant heads wearing what looked like
helmets, a flawed representation of the Tasker head.

Soon the spaceship rose skyward again and the
Tasker went on with his visits to various parts of Earth and the
collection of plants and artifacts. Unfortunately, on its last
visit, to the pyramids of Egypt, it did not leave quickly enough to
escape the angry attacks of a local tribe. Their spears and clubs
damaged the mechanism in its chest so that some programming was
destroyed.

The Tasker managed to pilot the ship out into
space but the commands for steering to Mahoud were lost. The
spaceship wandered the solar system for nearly four thousand years
before smashing into Alcazaba, killing many, many hundreds of its
inhabitants.

Such was the beginning and end for humanity
on Earth. The people of Alcazaba had lost all their records of
space travel in a fire shortly after the ship headed for Earth and
thus they had long forgotten the mission on which they had sent Si
Shim. The ship appeared to them only as a representative from
Earth, a missile of destruction, fired upon them with no
justification.

>>>

Dart speaks to Reader:

Yes, we've talked about myths before and this
is how such stories began, for the Peruvians and the Olmec, as well
as for other areas in the world where this one solitary Tasker
landed. The myths passed down through time in many cultures may
well have a common origin story of the Tasker and his ship.

It's true, Reader, there are connections
everywhere. It's possible that Charger R/T, as he was ricocheting
all over the time line of the galaxy, trying to find and kill
Abarth, may have arrived on Earth at different times and
unknowingly created myths as well.

Why do humans create myths? Oh, I don't know,
it's just the way we are. Or the way they are, since I'm not sure I
qualify as human anymore.

No, I know that's not an answer. Let's say
that humans tend to be event-driven. Some utterly strange event,
like a spaceship landing, fires the neurons in their brains to
create an explanation that makes sense in their particular culture,
some new and interesting story. Something to wow their kids
with.

Is it because the planet was hollow that Si
Shim's spaceship killed so many people?

Yes, exactly. The crust was fragile, and the
shock of the impact of the spaceship was felt, literally,
throughout that black world.

Now we're moving ahead to 2030 and war. I
will relate this story through the eyes of some humans who were
involved in the beginning and one in particular, who was closer to
uncovering the mysteries of the past than he knew.

"Y
ou should not be here!" the black-robed pastor roared
at Dr. Harold Opinhimmer, the lead scientist in charge of the dig
site of ancient Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. The place had existed for
over 12,000 years and Opinhimmer could see that it had been
deliberately reburied sometime in the past.

The pastor and his large group of followers
looked over-dressed for the heat of the day and the bottoms of
their robes were stained brown with desert sand. "That site was
buried for a reason and it was not meant to be dug up again. We
thought we made that perfectly clear to the 1960s archaeological
team from the University of Chicago." The pastor was red in the
face and sweating.

Dr. Opinhimmer muttered, "But now it's 2030
and science has advanced a long way in nearly seventy years." He
was only too aware of his own advanced age and frailty as he saw
the mob grow more hostile. It looked to be nearly out of control
when the Turkish police arrived at the main gates. Opinhimmer
heaved a sigh of relief and told the police that he wanted the
dissidents removed from the property. Again.

The enraged mob surged toward the gates as
the few police officers tried to disperse them. Too late,
Opinhimmer saw the rock flying toward him. A searing pain blazed
through his head and he tumbled to the ground. When he regained his
senses, he found himself being carried by two of his students back
into the safety of the compound behind the protective gates.

When he could stand again, the old man
brushed off his dirty, creased chinos and yelled through the gate,
"You are all mad! Why do people like you haunt archaeologists? What
do you and your church have to hide?"

He heard no intelligible answer. He and his
students retreated further into the encampment to let the police
deal with the unruly religious zealots. It was becoming a daily
ritual now for the police to call for back-up and more vehicles had
arrived, swelling the numbers defending the front gates.

"What did he mean, Professor, about burying
Gobekli Tepe for a reason?" a young girl student asked.

"Pay no attention to his words," Opinhimmer
said as he leaned on the two students helping him walk. "People who
are so passionate in their ideologies often make little sense.
Those people out there are no worse than the lunatics who write to
me that aliens from space were responsible for burying this
place."

"Aliens?" a Soviet student asked.
"Really?"

"Yes, really, aliens." He did not want to
talk, for his head throbbed and his arthritic knees were
complaining about his fall. But he owed his students whatever
knowledge he had. "I make it a point to read every letter I
receive. The most recent was from an American group stating that
aliens came to Earth after the last ice age to help early man build
this site. Such nonsense!" He had little tolerance for what he
deemed stupidity. "If aliens with advanced technologies did come to
this place, why would they help primitive humans pile rocks in
circles? Let me ask you – have you ever helped a wasp build its
nest, or invited cockroaches into your home by creating small holes
in your walls for them?"

His students made no answer; perhaps they had
none. Or they were in awe of his reputation. He knew he was
regarded as one of the world's most respected scientists, and
certainly he had published many treatises on a variety of subjects
over the years. Now he was content to concentrate on Earth's
ancient history, though at times like this he wished it was a more
peaceful task.

Dr. Opinhimmer went on. "It is clear to me
that early humans were organized into groups, and that they were
intelligent enough to create these magnificent structures on their
own. We should not be so quick to assume that primitive people were
incapable of thinking in abstract terms."

"But, sir, I read a paper you wrote back in
1990 about the church and aliens. Didn't you suggest that aliens
might be responsible for the rise of religions all over the world?"
The young Soviet student sounded puzzled.

"My God, that's forty years ago!" Opinhimmer
paused. "One of the benefits of old age is that you gain wisdom.
And since when did you become so smart? Reading my early papers,
are you trying to get a better grade?" Dr. Opinhimmer laughed as he
reached over and rubbed the student's head. "Yes, it is true that I
wrote those things. I studied religion for a number of years at my
old university, much to the annoyance of my scientific peers. My
friends from the theological faculty and I spent many a long night
arguing about spiritual matters. I also read many articles on the
alien contacts supposed to have occurred throughout time. I found
little factual evidence for those claims."

He was now caught up in his memories and
eager to continue. "And, if you had read the entire paper, you
would know that I found little or no evidence that aliens were
responsible for the rise of religion. Instead I suggested that the
notion of alien intervention in human affairs could not be proved
nor disproved and should remain a null topic until we discover more
evidence. Anything else is just pure speculation."

The group arrived at the meal tent and, after
getting coffee and a snack, everyone sat around a large table.
Another of the students said, "So this group that keeps appearing
at our gates thinks the site was buried for a reason?"

Opinhimmer took a deep breath. "Yes. I
received letters from these people informing me that they planned
to protest our work here. They believe that this site was first
constructed after the Ark mentioned in the Bible came to rest on
Mount Ararat a few miles from here. But this is just more
nonsense!" He waved his hand in dismissal. "There is no evidence
that the Ark ever existed, nor that it came to rest here, nor that
there was ever a flood in this region, nor that this site has any
type of religious implications. Actually, this place seems to have
rather more in common with aliens than it does with religion."

"But how can you deny the existence of aliens
and yet say this site seems alien?" asked a young East Indian
girl.

Opinhimmer held his coffee cup between his
hands. "The beauty of good science is that it never makes the
arrogant claim that it has all the answers. Any answer is only
relevant for a day because tomorrow new evidence may overturn it."
He liked his students to decide for themselves if his answers were
logical. "Unlike religion, which claims to have an answer for
everything, science admits that it is faced with a conundrum here.
Yes, this site is close to the so-called holy lands, but it appears
very different in construction and purpose from similar sites."

He leaned back in his chair and pushed his
long graying hair away from his face. "The carved figures on the
upright stones have nothing to do with religious behavior, such as
depicting animals chosen for the mythical Ark, nor do they
represent domesticated livestock. Instead, celestial navigation
seems to be the design. The lack of tools in the area suggests that
the site was finished, cleaned up, and then used in some practical
way."

"The problem reminds me of the Shirgir Idol
that I studied in Russia," the Soviet student remarked. "It dates
to 11,000 years ago, nearly as ancient as the upright stones we see
every day. Amazing to think it's twice as old as the Egyptian
pyramids."

"Has anyone discovered the meaning of the
symbols carved on it?" Opinhimmer asked. "Apparently scientists
believe the runes are a code, possibly about the origins of the
universe. Although the code could be about almost anything."

The Soviet student shook his head. "It's
still a mystery, the last I heard."

Opinhimmer fell silent for a time, gathering
his thoughts. The students who spent their summer holidays helping
him remove the soil covering ancient stones were some of the
brightest and best from all over the world. The dig site was hot
and dusty and plagued by flies, and the protestors made the job
very frustrating. However, the work was considered to be of value
to humanity, and so, every year for the past ten years, students
from universities made their way to Turkey to dig up a site that
seemed to have been deliberately buried 12,000 years before by
primitive cave-dwelling humans.

He went on. "The construction dates back to
the end of the ice age. I must remind you that as the glaciers
retreated, they left the area wet and fertile. It would have been a
good hunting place, covered with trees, wild fruits and berries. In
this knowledge lies the problem. These peoples had no agriculture;
they were hunter-gatherers. Learning about the equinoxes through
celestial study would have served no function. Hence the
possibility does exist that this site was designed with or by
aliens."

The East Indian student rubbed her temples
and asked, "So one group of people believes our work here is of
religious significance and another group believes it's a site
dedicated to aliens?"

"It's much worse than that." Opinhimmer's
tone was heavy. "The north site you were working on the other day,
where I called you to stop? There was a reason I did that." The
silence lasted for a moment. "We found something there, something
that suggests the mythical city of Atlantis might not be such a
myth."