Charger the Soldier

by Lea Tassie

  It started with a complete redesign of the Mahoud robots and the building of the first generation of Taskers. These Taskers were more efficient, smarter, faster, stronger, and more durable than the previous robots. Able to survive the hostile nature of space, they could gather resources the city needed to build on its successes.

  The redesign did not proceed without a mysterious tragedy, however. Pitar, one of the scientists working on the new robots, begged audience with the Nine of Nines. "Great ones," Pitar said, "May I speak? Something very strange happened while my staff and I were taking our last sleep period."

  "Tell me," Visha said, summoning energy to deal with yet another problem.

  "First, we were wakened by an explosion. Not inside the dome, of course."

  "Of course not." The Nine would have known if that had been the case. "But it must have been inside the planet. Perhaps an earthquake?"

  Pitar shook his head, then remembered the Nines would be looking at the ceiling, not at him. "We don't think so, great ones. It was sudden and must have been very loud, for we could hear it even inside the sleeping quarters."

  "Is that all?" Visha asked.

  "No, great one. We heard nothing else and, as you have said, we thought it might be a quake, and so we went back to sleep. But, when we went to the lab to return to work, we found Arun murdered."

  "Murdered!" Visha could not suppress his shock. Mahouds did not kill one another. "Are you sure it was murder?"

  "Yes, great one. His neck was broken and there was fear on his face. But it was not one of us. Someone strange had been inside the lab. Someone very large, for a chair had been broken, as if crushed from the top of the seat. Things were tumbled about."

  "Was anything missing?" Visha asked.

  "No, although the plans for the new Taskers were out of order and there were dirty fingerprints on the corner of one sheet. Very large fingerprints."

  "What about the prototype?"

  "It didn't appear to have been touched, great one. We could find nothing changed in any way. It is working just as well as it did before this happened."

  Visha closed his eyes. If an alien being was in the planet, where had it come from? Or had it always been there? Or perhaps someone disliked Arun so much that the stress of the deaths and this new home had caused him to break his conditioning and actually commit murder. If such a man existed, his friends were covering up for him. As for the explosion, Earth suffered quakes, so why not this planet? "Thank you for reporting this, Pitar. The Nine will consult on the matter."

  Pitar exited the Nine of Nine's large room and Visha consulted with himself. He felt quite sure that the hollow planet contained no life forms other than his own people and that it would be impossible for anyone to come in from outside. No one could survive in outer space. Which meant that Arun's death had been caused by another Mahoud. This was tragic and worthy of universal tears, but what would it avail to discover him? Any true Mahoud would suffer worse pain than death simply for knowing he had broken the first law. If another death occurred, as he suspected it might, he would know that the culprit had taken his own life.

  Yes, he would consult with his eight companions. That is, when they were not consulting on a great many more crucial matters.

  One of these matters was the fact that this new Earth had turned out to be a rogue planet wandering far outside old Earth's solar system. The Nine of Nines eventually worked out, to their amazement, that every five hundred years, it actually did orbit Earth's sun, but then veered off out of the system and into deep space, where it orbited a giant red sun once before returning to Earth's solar system. Its path looked rather like the figure eight, though the two loops were a long distance apart.

  The Nine did not give up hope of someday returning to Earth. Therefore, they chose to name the black planet Alcazaba, meaning fortress, a place that would protect them until such time as they might leave. Soon after that decision was made, within a year of the crash, Visha perished, but the legacy of building he started raced onward undiminished.

  Because Alcazaba was pure carbon, a relatively soft element, the survivors were able to further hollow it out, and create an atmosphere of oxygen, and from that, water. It was possible to walk anywhere inside the hollow world since gravity worked from the outer shell. Because the planet was so large, looking at the horizon was the same as looking at the horizon on Earth. And, because they had so much digging, burrowing, and constructing to do, the Mahouds developed wonderful machines to do the work.

  They soon constructed a space port inside the planet, using the path taken by the city-state, to serve as an entrance for spaceships. The first small ships they built were piloted by Taskers and sent out into the cosmos to gather materials they needed. The Taskers found asteroids rich in ice, and that, along with the carbon of Alcazaba, gave Mahoud the minerals it needed to build beautiful structures, just as it had when the continent was attached to Earth.

  The Mahouds themselves chose not to continue exploring space. With a sadly depleted population, they needed everyone, old and young, to contribute to the building of their new life and their new home. After such a very long time of drifting through space, the idea of 'home' had become a cherished ideal.

  The original Mahoud island remained domed, with artificial light to illuminate it and an entrance hidden behind a waterfall, which kept out the dust and debris arising from construction in the rest of the planet. Visha had decided that an artificial sun resembling the sun in Earth's system was needed for the growth of plants and expansion of living areas into the rest of the hollow planet. This construct would not shine into the city dome because almost none of the planet's carbon interior around the dome had been dug away.

  The creation of the artificial sun was an immense achievement, the brainchild of Visha. He would be forever revered as the one who brought light to the blackness of Alcazaba. Though Visha did not live to see its construction, the entire process was thought out and executed from his design. So brilliant was his plan that no alterations were ever needed, though the construction went on for several years. Hundreds of Tasker robots walked their way on the inner curvature of the world to a point directly vertical from the city's central square. There they built the factory that created the internal sun; they used controlled radioactive particles contained in carbon-rich structures to emit energy which was then used to propagate high-intensity sound waves.

  These sound waves were in turn used to excite rare subatomic particles to the point that they would spontaneously generate light in a specially created gigantic geodesic carbon dome. With the first intense sparks of light, the Taskers building the project were instantly vaporized but the shadows had been finally chased away. This sun provided light without any gravitational effects, and so the balance of the city-state of Mahoud was maintained.

  In time, the entire interior of this rogue black world became a garden of immense beauty, vastly different from the world the Mahouds had once lived on. Small towns were built. Great fields of plants and exotic animals were created, adapted to the ways of the planet. Life was good.

  As individuals in the Nines died, the Mahouds did not replace them. Every Mahoud, under the influence of peace and plenty, had become as intelligent and wise as the elders had been of old. However, statues to the elders, especially to Visha for his sacrifice, were built and honored for all days.

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  Thousands of years later, a descendant of Visha's family, Endellan, spent her mornings strolling the stone walkways that encircled the shrine to Visha and the survivors, happily enjoying the peace and beauty. She was always accompanied by Morrie, her small tan and white terrier. Few Mahouds now spent time in the gardens she loved to maintain. The place was sacred and regarded as too important for tourists from outside the city to plague. The still body of water shimmering and reflecting the sun's light gave the place a magical ambience, casting away shadows and inviting the eyes to gaze reverently upon the statues dotting the grounds. In the center of the grounds rose
one statue above all others. That was Visha, the one who had guided and ensured the survival of all Mahoud.

  Endellan knew that after the great city-state of Mahoud had traveled the void and crashed into this black hollow world, there were very few survivors. It made her sad to read how very dark things were in those first few days. Cries of pain filled the air, and little could be done to help the dying. The gravity drive had remained intact, so the survivors at least had the ability to move about naturally save for the great damage. Most survivors simply lay where they fell for several hours, if not days, before reacting to the situation.

  As a direct descendant of Visha's family, Endellan was more than just an ordinary groundskeeper. Many mornings found her picking up the smallest bits of litter, and pulling the tiniest weeds. This day, as morning gave way to afternoon, Endellan chose a new place to eat her lunch. Sitting in a rocky spot that allowed her feet to rest in the warm water, she stared out over the calm blue waters at the temple, which had been built on an island in the center of a deep lake. The island was connected to the shoreline by a long bridge. She laughed as small fish swam up and tried to nibble on her toes, and threw bits of food into the water for them as well as bigger bites to Morrie.

  As she sat, she felt the ground under her lurch once. The dog whined. Then nothing. Odd, she thought, she must have imagined it. Mahoud never experienced earthquakes now, though apparently it had in the past. She went back to feeding the tiny, sparkling fish, then spent the rest of the day placing small statuettes in new locations, replanting flowers and generally fussing over the little things.

  The following day she decided to again return to the rocky spot to eat her lunch, but the rocks she'd sat on the day before were under water. What could cause the waters to rise? This went on for some time and, little by little, the water began to rise up over the grounds she so treasured. Endellan spoke to the city staff and inspectors came to look at it, but all were quite perplexed.

  Alcazaba had so far provided a solid foundation for the city and no one ever thought that the lands could sink, but this was what was happening. Magnetic forces deep beneath their feet were at play, causing the waters to rise and cover the island temple. Those forces arose from the city's gravity drive, pieces of old Earth's fragmented core held together to create a stable surface for Mahoud. This threat to the stability of the world was only fully realized when, one morning, the temple complex finally submerged overnight, swallowed into the large blue body of water, never to be seen again.

  The Mahoud engineers soon learned that, while the radiation emitted from their created sun was not very harmful to humans, it weakened the core fragment. That was what had caused the water to rise and swamp the island temple. The weakness in the core fragment also began to affect the gravity experienced by people.

  This was only the beginning. The radiation gradually caused mutation in the plants they grew. The ingestion of plant matter by the herbivores who were, in turn, consumed by the humans, along with generous amounts of plant matter, began to alter the gestation period and the growth of newborn infants. This alteration exacerbated the existing condition of dwarfism acquired as an island nation on Earth. Now adaptation was producing small-bodied, large-brained individuals who were more reliant on their advanced robots, the Taskers, than they had been on the old ones.

  Endellan was sad to see the disappearance of her beloved refuge on the water, but she understood the changes that were taking place on their world and she was one of those who guided the plans carried out to save the people. Their most radical adaptation was the building of extremely complex synthetic suits into which they encapsulated themselves. The suits included goggles to protect their eyes from the sun's radiation, which made everyone look as if they had gold-colored multifaceted eyes, much like the huge eyes of dragonflies. The surface of the protective suit absorbed minute particles of carbon and eventually appeared almost black.

  There were, however, dissidents to this solution. These people saw themselves as non-interfering individuals who wanted to continue a pure, natural adaptation to the changing environment. They decided that, whatever the consequences of evolution on this world, they would allow it to happen to them, and so decided that retreating to an area outside the influence of the city was the best course. They spent many days wandering in the wilderness until they chanced upon a place called the promised land by the leader of the group. Following him, they entered the Valley of Shadows, never to interact with their city kin again. They were thus lost to the memories of Mahoud.

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  Dart speaks to Reader:

  Why was Alcazaba hollow?

  Oh, didn't I explain that? When the black sphere was first created, it spun so fast that all the center mass of the planetoid was thrown centrifugally outward, creating a hollow at the center. As more matter impacted the outer surface, the planetoid created a gravitation well at its center. Objects were attracted to the planetoid at first, much as a spinning magnet might attract metal filings, but over the vastness of time, the rotation slowed because of gravitational forces and because of objects hitting the surface against the direction of spin.

  Yes, the giant red sun will appear in the story later on. Well, not the sun itself but a planet which orbits it and which was mined by the Mahoud's robots until humans colonized it as New Eden. Yes, I know you're impatient, but I simply can't tell you everything at once.

  When will Charger be in the story? Very soon, Reader. The historical events I'm talking about all affect his life. You know, in order to understand what's happening in the present, sometimes you have to know what happened before.

  No, I'm not being pompous! The Grays and the Dinosauroids and the First Ones are all important parts of the story.

  Yes, Charger likes dogs. Henry especially liked dogs. His father got him a collie after his mother died, and Henry spent a lot of time with it.

  I'll see what I can do about getting one for you, but it will be very difficult, perhaps even impossible. Later you will learn why.

  Chapter 4 A trip to Galactic Central

  The Grays had used their time-lock millions of years in the past, in an effort to save their race from a viral infection. Activating it on Earth, they traveled through time at a greatly reduced rate. Three hundred years in time-lock equaled the passing of sixty-three million years of universe time, an unexpected result, and the reason it had long before been deemed a black project by the Grays' council.

  The Grays re-entered the time stream of Earth at about two million years BCE, when several species of hominids walked the surface. Most Grays left Earth at this time, setting out to reconquer their once vast territories in space. But a rogue group proposed that the greatest of all knowledge lay within their grasp: a chance to find god. They believed a creator must exist, and that this creator was building everything from the center of the galaxy, forever expanding outward. With their vast knowledge, they constructed a small but mighty ship, capable of incredible speeds. They re-engineered a group of Earth hominids to act as intelligent monkeys, much as America did with monkeys during the space race in the twenty-first century. It took them most of a million years to do this, but time meant nothing to the clones of Betelle.

  They placed seventy of the new hominoids in stasis, to be reactivated when the ship reached the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The hominoids were programmed to carry out given tasks, and then return with the information to the Grays, who had chosen to place themselves in time-lock again while they waited. The hominoids proved to be a bit unruly, like the Dinosauroids, and clever enough for several of them to escape confinement before the Grays managed to create enough volunteers for the mission. The Grays cared little for this event, thinking them too stupid and ill-prepared to survive for very long, and dismissed the runaways. They would surely soon meet their demise.

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  Dart speaks to Reader:

  Were Blix and Ook the hominoids who escaped from the Grays?

  You're right. And yes, that was about a
couple of million years ago. They're the ones who prospered and went on to become First Ones and Mahouds. The ones the Grays sent to the center of the galaxy were the ones who didn't escape, the ones who became extremely intelligent and long-lived, but obedient to the Grays. Slaves, in effect.

  You think that if Charger had been alive then, he could have defeated the Grays?

  I told you before, Reader, Charger is not a hero, he's a bad idea.

  How can I say that about my own father? Because I know him. Charger has many talents, but being a hero is not one of them. He has no patience, either.

  You're going to make up your own mind when you meet him? Good for you! I admire an independent spirit.

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  General Harris was, for the most part, as human as those he lived among, with the exception that he had been engineered to think at a more advanced level, and was bred by the Grays to be obedient. His part on the long trek to the center of the galaxy was as a security controller. He and a few others were designed to make sure that the hominoids never took unnecessary risks. Harris was one of the first brought out of stasis when the great craft arrived at its destination. After five hundred thousand years of travel to the Galactic Center, the Grays wanted no mistakes that might ruin their investigation. Harris and his team were to ensure that it was safe to wake the remaining crew members so that they could carry out their predesignated tasks.

  One of the crew members was a fair-haired, delicate female, bred to think through tasks of a complex nature, more complex than any artificial intelligence was capable of completing. More than just a monkey waiting to have events happen to it, she was designed to interact with and judge the nature of god, the creator at the center. Therefore, when their mighty craft reached its destination, and Harris and the others found it safe to revive the remaining crew, she was one of the first chosen.