Charger the Soldier

by Lea Tassie

  "Do not push yourself; you have been shook up quite badly," Dieter said gently, putting a pillow behind her back.

  When she settled down, he continued. "There is bad news I give you. Dean is dead."

  Pam winced again, this time from emotion. Dean, in spite of his foibles, had been a good and loyal friend.

  "There is more," Dieter said. "The terrorists demand that a city a hundred miles south of here be repaired und supplied for them, und support given by government. They seek division. They do not wish to coexist with gays."

  The shock and dismay Pam felt was written all over her face. More than six billion people dead, barely fifty million survivors worldwide, the number that once, at the start of the twenty-first century, had been the combined population of just two states, California and Texas. And now the survivors wanted artificial divisions.

  "They call themselves 'purists,' and wish nothing to do with those they consider unclean," Dieter finished.

  The news sent Pam spiraling into a deep depression. Yet again, humans were refusing to set aside their differences. With the common enemy defeated, old habits of prejudice and hatred had resurfaced.

  Unwilling to be held hostage to the stupidity of others, the government conceded, and began the slow, arduous task of establishing cities committed to those of similar beliefs and ideologies. With great swaths of land decimated by the conflict, however, food crops took precedence, and only those lands not dedicated to feeding the population were allocated for human habitation.

  Pam soon recovered from the effects of the blast, and went back to work as head of the world media. She fought hard to report the news with an unbiased sense of responsibility, but eventually, even she fell into the trap of biased reporting on the problems cities of differing ideologies faced. They somehow seemed of lesser importance than the residents of New Denver.

  Danny, as world president, made every effort to accommodate the differing lifestyles the remaining populations clung to, but the effort galled him.

  Chapter 20 Talking to Dinosauroids

  "We believe that some sixty-five million years ago, the dinosaurs and many of the other species on our planet were wiped out by the impact of an asteroid in the Yucatan peninsula."

  Doctor Curtis spoke to a group of eager, bright young minds in his virtual lecture room. The University of New Denver, or NDU as the students called it, was a progressive and vibrant campus. Unlike the universities at the start of the twenty-first century, these new campuses were designed to immerse students in a virtual world of learning. Classes might be held in local coffee shops, or while exercising, and sometimes even in a traditional classroom environment. There was a greater focus on learning in a manner that best fit each student and was, therefore, not based on attendance in a particular building. The students were responsible for absorbing the required knowledge, then passing the exams. Professors no longer had to assume the duty of making sure that students attended classes.

  "However, we have found clear and extensive evidence that, in what used to be known as Australia, some dinosaurs survived the asteroid impact and thrived for an additional ten million years," Doctor Curtis continued. "We have also found evidence that the dinosaurs seemed to be dying off some ten million years before the impact event. So there's a bit of a conundrum here. In certain parts of the world, a vast die-off was happening, possibly due to diseases. Then an extinction event followed that did not kill all the dinosaurs, but left some to thrive for an additional period of time, secluded as they were on an island continent."

  Phil, as he was known to his students, was a hippy type of the past, usually with a book in his face as he wandered the halls of the campus. He was often described as 'that guy with the busy feet,' for it seemed he was always moving.

  "The curious thing is the type of Dinosauroid that survived, and I use the term Dinosauroid deliberately. For it seems that the simple Troodont, a small meat eater, bipedal in design, produced the most common kind of fossil remains we've found. These five-foot-tall dinosaurs apparently had enough time to evolve into large-brained, possibly highly intelligent creatures. We think they hunted in packs and had a social lifestyle similar to wolves."

  Phil pressed a few buttons, and before the eyes of his students appeared three-dimensional pictures which identified bones and their placement on the specimen. "You can clearly see here, and here, that the backs of the skulls have enlarged, the neck has shortened, and an almost human-like upright posture has evolved." Phil pointed to aspects of the small image in virtual space.

  "Now, I'm not suggesting that these Troodont drove cars." Several students chuckled. "But I am suggesting that the Dinosauroids seemed to have evolved some rather puzzling qualities."

  The bell pinged and Doctor Curtis dismissed his class for the day. He wandered back down the halls to his favorite haunt to immerse himself in a book. He enjoyed reading anything related to science, devouring book after book in his spare time, often those that had little, if anything to do with paleontology.

  A stocky man with dark hair and brown eyes approached Phil and introduced himself as Doctor Andy Kent. "By god, you're an impossible man to track down. I must have asked fifty people where you were, and was told to just keep wandering the halls, and eventually I would stumble over you."

  Phil gave him an odd look, for this was not the typical greeting one would expect from a stranger. He responded with a long drawn-out "Okaaay…"

  "I'm hoping to persuade you to fly back to England with me. I'm part of the team working on the city discovered under Stonehenge, and we've found some stuff that we think you might be able to help us with," Andy said, as he looked for a place to sit down.

  "You found dinosaur fossils in this city?" Phil asked, with a chuckle.

  "Oh, it's odder then that," replied Andy, who could not help responding with a smug smile. "I study cultures, which is why I'm on the dig site. We found a door that led to a great room with many pictures on the walls. These pictures told of life in this city during its existence, really fascinating stuff!"

  "If you say so," replied Phil. He really had no interest in humans. In his opinion, most of them were a complete waste of skin.

  "I do. We have had teams of people in this room in the center of the complex for weeks now. The pictures tell of an amazing event, actual contact with beings which seem to be dinosaurian in nature."

  That got Phil's attention. He lowered the book to his lap. "Dinosaurian? Are you sure?"

  "That's why we need you. We want your experience and expertise to help us establish whether or not this is even possible," Andy pleaded.

  "I think I can save you some time here," Phil said, as he rose to his feet, ready to walk away. "There is little to no possibility that humans ever met with dinosaurs, no matter what pictures you have found. The whole idea is just ludicrous."

  "Wait! Before you go, just have a look at this statue we found, and some of the photos," Andy said, as he handed Phil a pair of 3D glasses.

  Phil reluctantly put on the glasses, and began viewing the images. His quick clicking through the pictures slowed as he found some he simply could not dismiss. After a bit, he stopped clicking the images forward and began backing up to review pictures he had seen moments earlier. He was stunned by what he was seeing. Forward and back, click after click, Phil repeatedly examined the incredibly detailed three-dimensional images. Finally, he stopped, removed the glasses and handed them back to Andy. "When do we go?"

  "Yes!" Andy executed an enthusiastic arm-pump.

  The next day found the two of them at the sky port boarding a transport to England. The flight from New Denver to Heathrow in Britain was brief; the transport ship flew into orbit, then descended to the destination. The two men gathered their gear from the holding bay and called for a ground transport to get them to the dig site's main base. Only half a day had been spent in travel, but it was growing dark when they arrived at the dig site.

  "We can tackle this in the morning, if you like. There are living quar
ters just around back, open to all," Andy said.

  "No, I'm good. I'll go look at this room you found, if it's all right with you," Phil replied, as he tossed his luggage and science gear down next to the entrance that led down to the dig site.

  "Knock yourself out! I'm bagged." Andy fought back a yawn. "It's been a long day for me, so I'll see you in the morning. Just ask around and someone will guide you to the living quarters when you're done."

  Phil headed down the long stairs that led to the entrance to the dig site. He passed many wandering scientists, all seemingly preoccupied with the work they carried. A young girl at the base of the stairs pointed Phil in the direction of the central room, and after some time, he managed to find the place. At first, he paid little attention to the pictures on the walls, though they seemed to move as he moved, for he had no interest in human culture. But, after only a few seconds, he stopped walking and just stared at the pictures and pedestals that held objects upon them.

  The next morning, Andy saw Phil in the immense central room and, with a mug of tea in hand, he approached and sat beside him. "Well, what great American insight can you add to all this?" Andy asked.

  "I don't even know where to begin. I've been at this for hours, and I still can't come to terms with what I'm seeing." Phil sounded a little lost. He had removed a small object from one of the pedestals, and was turning it over in his hands. "Look at this crystalline structure, and these pictures here that make reference to the recipients of their stellar communication as having some type of psychic power. What I mean is, one of them held this object up to the frontal portion of his skull, and was thus able to speak to the aliens he contacted. This can't be real, for we know that humans have no psychic powers, and this crystal is merely a piece of mineral." Phil blew out a gusty breath. "So part of the puzzle here is mired in pseudoscience, and part of it is based on real science!"

  "So you're saying you don't have a clue as to what all this is?" Andy asked.

  "On the contrary, I understand exactly what I'm looking at. It appears that the aliens being contacted were, in fact, dinosaurian in nature. However, the two cultures found no means of speaking to each other, so this pseudoscience mumbo jumbo of pressing rocks to heads was the experimenters' only way of convincing others in their society that some type of communication was happening."

  "I don't get it either," Andy said, scratching his head. "Look, these pictures here show human elders telling their people that they spoke to these creatures, but the mechanisms they used are based on garbage science. However, the creatures are either descendants from the dinosaurs here on Earth, for the anatomical physiology is just too similar to be dismissed, or we have the first-ever case of convergent evolution of life forms on a different planet."

  Phil placed the small object back on the pedestal. "Simply put, we have alien dinosaurs from space, or we have dinosaurs from Earth that evolved and left Earth, and then were contacted by a forgotten society of ancient humans," Phil said flatly.

  "You think humans really could talk to them?" Andy asked.

  Phil rocked himself back on the seat and blew out a long breath. "Okay, imagine you live back in the early 1900s, when steamships and steam engines are the norm. Someone develops the two-way radio and turns it on, and suddenly is speaking to another voice. But no one else in the world has a radio. So, who is he speaking to? These people had a science different from our own. But the other devices here are clearly based on scientific principles," Phil said, as he pointed to several pedestals around the vast room.

  "Their science is more advanced than our own in some ways, and yet in others more primitive," Phil continued. "And this statue, it is clearly a cross between a dinosaur and some type of bipedal humanoid. See its physiology depicted here in the pictures? Without a doubt, if humans did speak to these things, they spoke to Dinosauroids. But I don't think that any meaningful communication could ever be had, for it is impossible for these two differing species to ever be able to understand one another."

  "Then we do have a bit of a bind," Andy said. "It appears that some of the other scientists have figured out a way to turn this 'two-way radio' back on."

  "I don't advise they do that, if it is a communication with a dinosaurian race. They were never known to be an understanding group of beings," Phil said cautiously.

  "I have to admit I'm a bit surprised. You seem so matter-of-fact about this whole thing," Andy said with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

  Phil replied quickly. "I have long been puzzled by the fossils coming to my desk from old Australia. Dinosaurs survived and developed for some ten million years after the KT boundary."

  "KT?" asked Andy.

  "The cretaceous tertiary boundary, KT for short, that's the point where the dinosaurs were wiped out, so we think. Ten million years of suspect fossils that seem to show an advancing physiology, and an increase in brain capacity, then nothing. Poof! They disappear from the fossil record."

  The two men sat for some time staring out at the vast room and the pictures on the walls and the many pedestals of unusual items. Then Phil asked, "Hey, where did you get the tea?"

  "Follow me," replied Andy, and they set off to the surface of the dig site, back to their normal world. They sat at a small table in a makeshift cafeteria tent, and Andy finally had to ask. "So… ten million years, eh? How advanced do you suppose these things could have gotten?"

  "Are you kidding me?" Phil said. "The human race may have taken a few million years to get to the Industrial Revolution, but then we just took off in technology, like plants that explode into bloom after a rain. These last few hundred years, we've traveled to another world, cured many diseases, and our computers are now almost as capable of thought as we are. The problem is not how advanced did the Dinosauroids get back then, but if they are still surviving, how advanced are they now? Imagine sixty-five million years of evolution. No, we would seem like bugs to them, so we'd best hope that no signals ever reached them."

  "I hate to be the one to break this to you, Phil, but the statue in that room suggests that our ancestors seem to have already contacted them," Andy said. "That beam we triggered that went out into the universe signaled our position for some time before it shut off."

  "Then we had damn well better hope that our ancestors never left Earth due to that contact. If they return, we might stand little chance of surviving," Phil said.

  >>>

  Several weeks passed as scientists worked out the details of what life and culture had been like in this lost city. Much progress was also made in establishing the city's power grid since it closely resembled modern grids. The use of geothermal heat to drive massive steam turbines, mixed with the use of exotic subatomic particles, brought many areas of the city back to life.

  In the great room with the Dinosauroid statue, one of the pedestals caught the attention of many scientists, for it held a gel-like keyboard interface, with unrecognizable symbols. Those studying it took extra caution not to press a button for fear of activating the device.

  Thus, when the interface started glowing and clicking on its own, several scientists jumped back and asked who had pushed a button. No one admitted to doing so. The device was apparently being controlled from somewhere else. As it stirred to life, many stopped working on other projects and moved closer to investigate. Phil, who was studying the statue, also wandered over to investigate. Objects in the room began moving about. Then the lights went out.

  The ground shook violently, and dust rained down from the stone ceiling. The room sparked with light, but not from any definable source, and a strange glow emanated from the floor. Several of the female scientists with long hair noticed that it was lifting from their heads, as if static permeated the room. Then, in the center of the room, a single light source seemed to hang in the air just feet above the floor. Everyone started to back away from the multicolored light. The light source became brighter and more intense, as it shot out tiny bolts of lightning, producing an almost Tesla coil effect. A high-pitch
ed whine caused several of the scientists to cover their ears. Some left the room. The room itself began to shimmer and fade.

  Another room slowly seemed to meld into the room they were all standing in, and small figures came into view. This new room was dense with technology, and light from unseen sources filled it. Some of the scientists jumped, startled because another figure was standing just inches from where they were standing. The two rooms were actually merging. The room the scientists were in still existed, but was vague and hard to focus on. The new room was equally vague and difficult to see. But the small occupants of the new room were clear. They were obviously the Dinosauroids from the pictures on the wall.

  One of the scientists said under her breath, but loud enough for the others to hear, "They must be in a parallel universe, with the technology to merge with ours at will." The stunned scientists realized the truth of this and were awe-struck by the incredible power these beings wielded.

  The Dinosauroids had never traveled to the stars; they simply traveled to another dimension. They were and always had been on Earth; it was just that they lived several seconds into the future. Now they were pulling the two time lines parallel to make contact.

  "We are so supremely fucked!" Phil spoke loudly. "I want all of you to move to the far side of the room. NOW! Don't talk, don't look at them, and don't move when you get to the other side of the room. GO NOW!"

  The scientists did not hesitate. They all seemed to realize what was happening and some grabbed the dignitaries who happened to be there and forced them to comply.

  One lone Dinosauroid stood in the center of the room and faced Phil. It stretched out its arm almost as if looking for a handshake. Then the hand tipped up and it made a circular motion in front of Phil. It stopped for a moment, then its hand pointed down, and a single finger of three pointed toward the ground. Phil was devastated; he had no idea what this meant.

  After a moment, Phil reached for the pocket watch his grandfather had given to him as a child. He pulled it from his pocket, then lifted it to his ear. He posed that way for a moment, then handed it to the lone Dinosauroid. It held the watch to the side of its head. The Dinosauroid seemed puzzled, perhaps because it realized that the watch made no ticking sound, but instead was playing a small tune. The pocket watch would play a melody when a button was pressed on the watch face, and the Dinosauroid seemed fascinated by the music. It handed the watch to another Dinosauroid, which had appeared in the background, and it too seemed fascinated. They apparently conversed for a moment, then the watch was returned to Phil.