by Lea Tassie
"When did this Gray ship land on the South Pole?" asked another delegate from the agricultural district.
"Somewhere around the period in Earth's history known as the Industrial Revolution, from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. That seems the most logical," responded Quat I.
"Within the next two years, Neo Terra will be entering into Earth's solar system again. That is when we can send an expedition party back to Earth and retrieve the craft that now lies dormant."
After a moment, Quat I added, "That spaceship is essential if we are to succeed in destroying the Grays. Most especially, we need the drive engine it contains. We must have it!"
Chapter 17 Expedition to Earth
Dart speaks to Reader:
No, Reader, you're quite right. Charger didn't foresee that the people he created in the small black world of Neo Terra would someday seek revenge against such an advanced life form as the Grays. Nor that the Taskoids, a creation of their ancestors, would be guiding them into battle.
How did the battle end? Be patient; I must unfold the story so that you have all the relevant details. But I'll give you a clue. Charger could never have dreamed, in a billion years, that these Taskoids planned to use the full god fragment to resurrect him and to have him lead the humans into battle again. Can you imagine his reaction to that, when he wanted so badly for his life to end, for the fighting to be over?
Did the people of Neo Terra know Charger was involved in their creation? No. The Prime knew but decided this revelation might be more useful later.
***
Two years seemed far too short a time to mount an expedition to the South Pole on Earth and retrieve a space ship frozen in the ice for nearly seven hundred years. They would have to cut through the sharp black iron shards covering Earth, a layer five feet deep. Those shards had hit Earth like red-hot bullets, killing all life and entombing the surface by fusing together. The expedition could afford no delays on Earth, for the small black world of Neo Terra entered the solar system for a very short time before it blasted back out into the depths of space.
That meant, with their present level of space-travel ability, the expedition would have to wait until Neo Terra was only a month's distance from Earth's sun before embarking. That would allow the expedition around three weeks to secure their prize and rendezvous back on Neo Terra, or risk being left behind for five hundred years while the small black world plied the depths of space back on course to the system where New Eden orbited a giant red sun.
It had been quite a surprise to the humans of old when they discovered the existence of New Eden; no one had ever thought a star with a planet existed relatively close to Earth. What every astronomer had missed then was obvious now. The giant red star was so dim compared to the brilliant stellar nursery directly behind it that, in the view the telescopes could command, it was invisible to the observers.
New Eden had only been discovered because the Taskers had mined it, and the Tasker cargo ship which the Maven kids had stolen all those hundreds of years ago was programmed to take them there. New Eden was now barren and abandoned, laid bare by marauding Gray ships. Humanity's last refuge was the small black hollow world, where they were now preparing to seek out and destroy the Grays.
"I have to be honest, Madam Prime Minister, in spite of all the preparations the Taskoids have made, I still don't think we'll be able to retrieve the Grays' ship and launch it back to Neo Terra in time," Dayton said to Jana. "Three weeks isn't very long."
"We have to try, Dayton. We've been told about the Grays' aggression toward humanity," Jana replied. She signed the final document on her desk ordering the residents of Neo Terra to aid the Taskoids in completing the endeavor.
"Are the Taskoids certain they can replicate the missing components we think were removed by Admiral Byrd?" asked Jana, as she released the signed documents to a staff member.
"The latest news from Quat I is that they might not have to replicate this missing piece. Several Taskoids have been sifting through the historical documents from that time period," Dayton said. He was most impressed with the Taskoids' method of research. The Taskoids could search files at any point in Earth's history provided it had been entered into a computer database.
Dayton went on. "They've traced the missing component to an area in the old United States of America, a location recorded as Nellis Air Force base. The underground area was built to withstand nuclear attack and the Taskoids are certain that the black rain could not have penetrated below the surface."
"So then two groups will be descending on Earth?" Jana asked, as she stretched back in her office chair.
"No, Madam Prime Minister, there will be three groups. A large group will descend on the Grays' buried ship, a second group will go to this Nellis place, and a third to a place called Stonehenge. The Taskoids have learned that the complex buried under this location, once thought to have been built by the Dinosauroids, was in fact built by a group of early humans known as the First Ones."
Dayton continued to lay out the Taskoids' plan to Jana. "These early ancestors of ours, humans who were genetically modified by the Grays, built a civilization rediscovered by a group known as churches. It is all rather confusing."
"Churches, Dinosauroids, Stonehenge! The more I learn of our true heritage, the less I seem to know," Jana said in frustration.
"Well, as Quat I tells it, the third team will try to regain access to this complex. They suspect that one of the items recorded on an inventory list might be important."
"Did they say what this item is for?" asked Jana.
"No, Madam Prime Minister," Dayton reluctantly replied.
"We do not have much choice here. All we can do is hope that our ancestors' creation will protect our best interests," Jana said.
***
A year and a half later, the crews trained for the three tasks ahead were ready. Neo Terra was close to Earth and only a few days remained to commit to the expedition. Three of the five Taskoid ships that had traveled to Neo Terra were modified to hold human crews and equipment for the tasks ahead. The Taskoids had also created displays in most places humans lived to show them the planet they had originally called home.
Almost all humans on Neo Terra had now been trained as an effective fighting force, and the Taskoids had created new and devastating weapons. Neo Terra was a rebel base that the Grays didn't know existed, a militant world with an expanding army of two million soldiers. Every soldier, both human and Taskoid, would be linked through a virtual network undetectable to the Grays, for it cycled on a frequency so low that it was nearly invisible. This linkage, however, would not take place until the battle began.
Best of all, the Taskoids had found a way to defeat the Grays' repulse field, a shield that had devastated the fighters of old Earth. They would encase the Grays in their own shield. Microscopic nanoparticles contained in a grenade turned the repulse weapon into a cage. This would entomb the enemy until they chose to lower their shield; then the particles would infest the Grays at a cellular level, converting them into carbon dust.
Prime Minister Jana was in constant contact with the Prime and had become deeply distrustful of him. He seemed secretive and his motives were unclear. Jana might have accepted this gut feeling as unimportant, but the Taskoids ran on logic, and logic made them terrible liars. She called the three people she most trusted to her office and spoke to them.
"Jillian, I want you to be team leader for the group landing at the Stonehenge site. The Taskoid Prime claims that something of importance is to be found there, but won't tell us what that object is. I would like to trust these Taskoids, but in the past they have been unreliable regarding information we should have."
"I'm the least qualified person you have," Jillian said, looking small and frail among the other delegates. "I mean, I'm honored that you even considered me, but I'm perplexed by your choice."
"Jillian, you seem to have an innate instinct regarding acceptable risks," Jana replied. She placed her hand
firmly on Jillian's shoulder. "You clearly showed leadership abilities when you found a way to communicate with the people of the Valley of Shadows and I think you will be observant in this matter. I have assigned you the Taskoid Vee, since it seems you two have built something of a rapport. I think it likes you."
Jillian found this thought quite surprising.
Jana continued. "Genga, you and Quat II will be team leaders for the Nellis base; I am told it will be the most difficult task. You will first have to penetrate the black shards, then the underground bunker. The historical records indicate this place is most oppressive, but I wish I could accompany you on the mission. I fear it is the most dangerous thing we are doing."
Genga seemed to be the largest person wherever he was, heads taller than most, and with significant muscle mass. "I won't let you down, Madam Prime Minister, and I too shall endeavor to keep one eye on my Taskoid counterpart."
"That just leaves you, Dayton. What can I say? You and Quat I will have to bring back the Grays' ship or all of this is for nothing." Jana was still unsure that this was the best course of action for her people. The Taskoids had made a very convincing argument that humanity must strike now or be destroyed later. "We've collected the best people for the job and Quat I assures me the equipment will burn through the fused shards, and then core a tunnel to access a port into the craft. The only difficulty will be in the removal of the iron shard surface. It will be extremely heavy."
Dayton's tone was confident. "Quat I has a plan to reduce what we are calling the 'capstone' into manageable pieces so it can be carried far enough away to allow the buried craft to break free of its ice tomb." He seemed unconcerned that the team would be working in sub-zero weather, with little light and oxygen, and strong winds that could destroy the entire process.
"Well, you have only three weeks to get this done." Jana's tone betrayed worry; she was genuinely concerned for their survival.
"I promise you, we've taken all the precautions we can think of," Dayton said.
"We are entrusting you three and your crews to do what can be done. If this mission fails, we will not live to see our world return to this part of space in another five hundred years. If the Taskoids are correct in their assessment of our current state, the Grays could come back to finish off the human race at any time." Jana tried to hide the slight tremor in her voice. She realized that if any one of the three tasks failed, the human race might not survive. "In less than a week's time, you will be leaving the only world we have ever known. Please be careful." Jana had said all that could be said. It was out of her hands now.
Genga's Taskoid ship was the first to leave the docking bay, to the cheers of huge crowds. People from all over Neo Terra had come to witness the event. The city vibrated with the power of the engine as the Taskoid ship heaved itself back out into the cold depths of space, on course to Earth. Moments later, Dayton and his ship thundered to life and followed Genga. With the firing to life of Jillian's ship, the whole of the world seemed to vibrate. The three Taskoid ships exited the world one behind the other, their course into space straight and true. In a few days, they would be landing on Earth, where their ancestors originated, a world they had only in the past two years come to know existed, a world devastated by the Grays.
***
In less than three days, they reached Earth's orbit. For the Taskoids, finding the designated landing sites was just a simple matter of math and data input. They calculated the increased mass of the Earth, the number of rotations in orbit around the sun, the distance the planet traveled since the Night of the Black Rain, and the time of travel. Using these calculations, they knew where the planet was in relation to the sun, and what time it was in relation to a point of daylight on the surface of the planet they were facing. Cross-referencing this with historical maps of the planet, they could pinpoint where they wanted to land.
Quat II and Genga's ship was the first to reach Earth and begin the descent to the surface, landing near the entrance of what had been Nellis Air Force base. Quat II had assured Genga that they could penetrate deep beneath the surface with the scanning equipment once used in mining operations. They would use this equipment first to try to find intact passages or rooms the records indicated as the last known places where the Grays' ship parts had been stored.
This proved to be impossible. The covering of black shards was so thick and dense that the scanning equipment couldn't penetrate it.
The crew then swung into action with heavy equipment on an area thought to be an entrance to the underground complex, according to old maps. Massive mining equipment began pounding and coring a path through the hardened black surface at multiple locations, trying to find a point in the complex where they could enter.
The surface of the Earth at this location was blazing hot. There were no breezes, and the thin air smelled of rusting metal and sour gas. With the heat never seeming to abate, the team led by Quat II pushed deep into the night. The relentless heat continued.
Seven days and nights of cutting in several locations finally revealed an opening to the base. It was small, so the team sent in a small robot with a camera and a scanner to survey the area. It wound its way down darkened hallways, past broken doors and shattered glass through a twisted maze of fractured concrete. As it proceeded, the crews on the surface traced the thickness of the iron shard layer with the robot's scanner, hoping to find a thin area they could penetrate. Days passed with no luck.
"I don't understand," Genga said to Quat II. "You're telling me that the robot has found the last known location of the Grays' artifacts, but the room is empty?" Time was running out; they needed results fast.
"The robot is trying to detect the type of metals we think the Grays used for this device. I am hoping that is how we can track it," Quat II responded, his voice sounding panicked. It seemed odd that these biomechanical robots could show human emotions, but perhaps the Mahouds had wanted them to seem like humans. Now that the Taskoids had the ability to decide, they portrayed an all too realistic human nature at times. Quat II had the team frantically trying to come up with new ways of finding the important component.
"Look, we need to get down there, we need to get eyes in there who can see things that machines can't," snapped Genga, his patience growing thin.
Quat II took the comment as an insult. To think that humans could see better than a robot was ridiculous. "The robot I sent down can see in all spectrums of the light band, and see through the materials used in the construction of this base. It is unlikely your eyes can see any better than that!" said Quat II firmly.
"Do as I say!" retorted Genga with equal vigor.
The teams began cutting in a new location where the entrance might allow humans to get into the base. Within hours, Genga and a few other humans, with only two Taskoids, descended into the dank and oppressive caverns that were once the bunkers of Nellis Air Force base. The team caught up with the small robot. Genga passed it, searching rooms and rubble filled areas, looking for any clues that might lead to the ship component.
Days passed and the group fretted. Every member of the team was now deep underground, crawling and scratching their way through the rubble. "We might have to conclude that the item was transported somewhere else, or that the invading Grays managed to retrieve it," Quat II said to a very dirty Genga.
Genga had just resurfaced after scrounging in areas not considered important enough to check. "That could be true, but unlikely. If the ship is still here, then the part must also still be here," Genga replied as he spat dust and dirt from his mouth.
Shouting arose from below and the communication devices lit up to the sound of chatter. Something had been found. Quickly Genga and Quat II returned underground and made their way to the source of the shouting.
"We found something, sir," one of the workers said. "That little robot spotted a section of a destroyed room that looks like it contains the metals we've been looking for."
Bodies moved aside rapidly, creating a path for Genga an
d Quat II. They found the small room and saw, under some smashed cabinets, the faint glow of the device they sought.
"That's it!" exclaimed an excited Quat II. The room was unstable, so they worked through the night to retrieve the glowing device. There were actually three small devices, all shaped like thin tall pyramids, covered in writing that the Taskoids could read, though they did not share this information with the humans. They recognized this device as similar to the ones found long ago and protected by ancient churches. Back then, they were known as angel tablets.
***
Jillian and Vee landed their ship directly on the old Stonehenge site. The black shards had destroyed the stone pillars completely. But the crew, a large number of Taskoids and only three humans, did not immediately disembark. During the trip, Jillian had formed a stronger bond with Vee; it seemed empathetic toward humanity and to want to protect her, though from what was never clear. Several days passed, while the Taskoid crew were completely engaged with the work they were doing. However, they revealed nothing of their intentions to the humans.
"Can you tell me when we will be disembarking the ship?" Jillian asked Vee in her kind and childlike manner.
"Yes, Miss Jillian, we expect to start tomorrow. From all the data we have accumulated to date, it should be an easy task to gain entrance to the old city below." Vee went about the control room flicking switches and responding to radio queries.
"Then I will be going with you!" Jillian said in a sweet but firm tone.
Vee did not seem able to refuse anything Jillian asked. The next morning, through oppressive heat and thin air, a massive pulse drill was set up where the records indicated the entrance to the city lay.
It blasted away the metal shards in heavy pulses, sending debris flying in all directions. The Taskoids and the three humans hid behind metal shielding, peering through protective glass portholes to watch the destruction of the black shards. Soon the entranceway appeared, obviously stronger and more durable than anything humanity had ever built. The city below was intact and stable, giving easy access to all its resources. "What is it you hope to get from this city?" asked Jillian of Vee.