Charger the Soldier

by Lea Tassie

  The Taskers, even after the improvements made by the Mahouds, were still quite crude compared to what they would someday become, and they moved mechanically, like a wind-up toy. Their 'brains' clicked and beeped and they had big 'eyes,' which were actually windows for sensors. Their arms ended in primitive pincers.

  A few days later the Tasker landed on a windless desert plateau in Peru, near a village which looked deserted. It emerged from the ship and began moving toward the huts. However, the village of Nazca was not deserted.

  People began running out of the huts, picking up stones as they raced toward the Tasker. The Tasker had no commands to deal with this kind of movement, but when people began attacking and the first stone struck its chest, the robot simply turned around, got back into the spaceship and left.

  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.

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  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.

  Chapter 6 Trouble at Gobekli Tepe

  "You 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 in
to 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."

  The students looked disbelieving. He could have heard a pin drop.

  "The map of a city is carved on one of the stone monoliths. It is portrayed as being on a large land mass, with roads and waterways clearly defined, but on a scale that was epic compared to the size and shape we think of as Atlantis." He reached for the atlas that lay at the end of the table. "The map suggests that this was the world of Atlantis..." he pointed his finger "...here, from Athens across the water to Izmir in Turkey and back across to the island of Crete. History has been looking for an island with a city, but these stones suggest that it was a huge land mass, ringed by mountains, not water, cutting the rest of the world off from contact except for a few river pathways out. There is only one city from history which matches that description. Plato's Atlantis. So, I ask you, was this place buried 12,000 years ago, or 2,000 years ago?"

  "You think the church buried it?" asked a student.

  "When I researched this site many years ago, I found that it had been dismissed as a burial area, and the university told to abandon it." Dr. Opinhimmer leaned back again. "Imagine a world where a great race of people existed, long before the last ice age had even started. Imagine that they were far advanced in technology and understood space travel. Let us also say they knew the ice age was fast approaching. They launched themselves from their cities into space to find a safe new world and escape the ice that would eventually have killed them all."

  He took a sip of his coffee. It was cold now, but he was too excited about the map on the stone monolith to care. "Suppose, though, that a group stayed on Earth, survived the ice age and built ancient sites like Gobekli Tepe, with nothing more to go on than stories of times past, stories of Atlantis? War, famine, and time erased all traces of Atlantis until Plato rediscovered it." He rose and paced back and forth, the way he used to do in the lecture room. "Then the church, realizing the knowledge revealed by Gobekli Tepe threatened their hold on power, decided to bury the site and redirect everyone's attention to a story of a flood and Mount Ararat."

  "So Atlantis really existed?" asked a student after a long pause.

  "All traces of that time were ground under gigantic ice sheets, and only these outposts survive. I expect we will find
more places like Tepe soon." The pain in his knees forced him to sit down again. "What really fascinates me is the discovery of the Red Deer cave people in China. These humans are so different from what has been discovered about other hominids of that time that they might almost be a separate species. They didn't seem to interact with the other people of 12,000 years ago. They apparently stuck mostly to themselves. So I ask you, could these have been the descendants of the mythical Atlantis?"

  The students all had puzzled looks, which amused him. They were finding it difficult to keep up with his thinking.

  "These Red Deer cave people found in China could easily be a race of xenophobic humans who wanted nothing to do with the other groups of people." He tapped his index finger on the table surface. "I would contend that any group of advanced humans left on Earth, after others of their kind rocketed off into space, would want very little to do with people they might perceive as primitives."

  Another young female student spoke. "So this place was not built by aliens, but may have been built to commemorate humans who left Earth behind and became aliens. But where did they go?"

  "I'm not sure I'm right," Opinhimmer said. He didn't want to mislead the students into thinking he had all the answers. "I have no idea where they would have gone, or if they even existed. We need to research more of the site before we can have any hope of a real answer. Nevertheless, I will add this little piece of information. I have a colleague who was working on Stonehenge a few years back and made a startling discovery. I'm sure you have all heard of Nicola Tesla; he did work on the properties of electricity traveling great distances through wireless transmission. Well, it turns out that my friend in Britain came across some old writings in the basement of one of the museums and, after much study, found that Stonehenge was thought to be a type of electrical transmitter."

  "Wow, Professor, this is really getting out there," said a student with a disbelieving expression.