Charger the Soldier

by Lea Tassie

  When the lecture ended and all the students' questions had been addressed, Mark, Andy and Phil decided to have supper together at the local university haunt and catch up on each other's lives. After supper, the three friends made their way to the local pub for several pints of beer. This finally got Mark talking. "You have it lucky. I'm stuck lecturing classes while you two run off and play explorer!" The beers were obviously taking hold, as Mark slurred his words.

  Andy laughed. His old buddy had never been able to hold his liquor.

  Phil chugged down his ale. "That may be true, Mark, but a stable life with a nine-to-five job is still what I hope for someday."

  The three drank long into the night and then staggered across campus to their respective dorms to sleep off the evening's excesses. By midday they had recovered sufficiently to gather in the cafeteria for strong liquid stimulants. "Looks like I have to pull the plug on our visit, guys," Andy said, as he held his head and leaned over a steaming hot cup of tea. "Got a message last night from the Somalia dig site. Seems they found the opening. I'm catching the first shuttle out in less than an hour."

  Though they hated to break up the visit so soon, the three friends promised to reconnect soon and, within three hours, Andy was standing with the dig site team leader in what was left of Somalia in Africa. The entrance to the underground complex here made the entrance in Britain look like a hatch by comparison. Andy thought this must be the primary site, for the grand and enormous design dwarfed the British site.

  Knowledge of how the British site worked meant there was no need to break through the door by force to gain entrance. It was a simple matter of selecting the right frequency and, like Aladdin's magic cave, the entrance materialized before the astonished team. The entire complex began breathing itself back to life, the sounds of distant machines surging into operation, providing lights and heat to welcome the team.

  The interior of this site was radically different from the British site, too. Instead of solid walls of smooth composite materials, with grand hallways and movable three-dimensional photos, here they walked into a forest.

  Trees, rising skyward to magnificent heights, were such a deep green as to be nearly black in hue. It looked as if the makers of this place had built an unbelievably large shell over what was then the surface of the planet, encapsulating a green and growing ancient forest, with life forms nearly a million years old. As the machines that controlled this complex became operational again, so too did the life forms held in its interior. In full biohazard suits, the team led by Andy took their first tentative steps into history and walked the surface of the planet as it had existed long ago.

  Never let it be said that scientists are not human, for as the team walked through ancient forests and open savanna, upon ground almost a million years old and still as fresh as the day it first existed, excitement and conversation boiled up like lava from a volcano. Like children on Christmas morning, the members of the team were nearly blind to any dangers that might lie within these walls. And there were dangers. They nearly stumbled over a saber-tooth cat feasting on an elephant calf. Both parties backed away from one another, the cat snarling, the scientists torn between running away and trying for a closer look.

  This was humanity's first introduction to a rare, almost unknown and even less understood element on the periodic table. The element was considered to be a member of the noble gas family, but was so dense at the molecular level that it embodied and encompassed the entire dome structure like a metal shield.

  The team that walked the ancient forest floor and through the tall, waving grasses on the savanna found animals from a time long past in Earth's memory, scurrying about and busying themselves with their daily tasks, not at all bothered by the humans invading their home.

  So caught up were the humans in the excitement of this new find that no one even felt so much as a shiver from the ground. But the entire complex was lifting itself back to the surface of the world. Like a massive elevator, the complex rose skyward, returning to the light of the sun that had once graced this ancient place. The small, war-ravaged, deserted village that existed above it disintegrated and crumbled out of the way of the rising dome. The mud brick buildings began to break up into sand and mud as the vibrations destroyed what was left of the village and the ground slowly gave way to the rising complex from below.

  The shell of the complex began to deteriorate, the noble gas changing to a lesser state on the periodic table and fading away. The first rays of sunlight caused many good scientists to lose their stable condition of logic and shed a tear at the beauty they now beheld. Three hundred miles across, and fully functional, adaptable to the conditions of present day Earth, a mighty gift from the Enoch resurfaced to grace a war-torn world. It was a world barely recognizable after the chaos of war with the descendants of the people of the once mighty and ancient country of Mahoud.

  As if that incredible act was not enough, two other domes some sixty miles distant also resurfaced, giving a new home and renewed hope to what would eventually be thousands of human caretakers.

  "I have no words," Andy muttered as he slowly removed his protective headgear to inhale the smells of this incredible place. "To think a technology of such immeasurable depth once existed." He fell silent then, and it was nearly two full days before he could even begin again to communicate. The news of this discovery made its way around the globe in a heartbeat, however, and people who had suffered much stood for a moment in silence, unable to find a way to give thanks to a populace they now knew as distant family.

  >>>

  "I'm telling you, we found a circle in the third risen forest complex that matches the description found in the British site!" shouted an excited young researcher. The roar of the transport craft that Andy was preparing to board made it difficult to communicate.

  "That's impossible," Andy shouted back, sure the researcher had made some sort of mistake.

  "There is no mistake. We checked the figures twice and ran the math through our computers several times. We are looking for the entrance to the Egyptian site in the wrong location!" The young researcher tugged on Andy's sleeve, trying to stop him from leaving.

  Frustrated, Andy motioned for the transport to lift off without him as he gathered up his belongings and walked back down the ramp to the building below. This was the research lab constructed just outside the now protected forest and grassland area. Here the researchers were able to work without contaminating the three sites.

  Teams had been searching the Egyptian desert for almost a year, with no success in finding the third site's entrance. This young researcher claiming to find a circle in one of the roughly documented ancient forests defied logic.

  "Here, on this map, we found the stone rings here," the young researcher said as he pointed to a location on a map laid across the table the researchers used for eating lunch.

  "And you're sure of this? Because my missing the committee's monthly meeting will surely get me fired." Andy wanted to emphasize his predicament.

  "Positive! We have a skidder parked outside, and we can be at the circle in a little over an hour if we leave now." The young researcher was bubbling with confidence.

  The road through the ancient forest to the circle was cut carefully, with many twists and turns to protect a great many sensitive areas. However, after a little more than an hour, the two men stood at the parking area a short walk from the circle's location.

  "Lucy, the lead scientist, is waiting for us at the circle. She has the entire area restricted and sectioned off," the young researcher said, as the two walked with bags of heavy gear slung over their backs.

  "Not Lucky Lucy?" Andy asked. He could barely stand being in that woman's presence. To Andy, Lucy was a dilettante, a rich kid from an arrogant family. How she had ever earned a degree was a mystery.

  "One and the same," the researcher replied and then ducked as Andy started to rant.

  The two men emerged from the forest and stood in a small clearing as Andy contin
ued to vent. "Then she claimed to have found a vital clue to the location of the power source for the British site when, in fact, she had located the kitchen facility. The damn power source entrance was two levels down. I doubt Lucy even knows the difference between a circle and a square!" Andy was feeling frustrated and sure this trip was a waste of time and that by missing the committee meeting he was surely going to lose his job.

  Lucy had walked into the clearing behind the two men and heard the entire conversation. "To be fair," she said coolly, "the only reason I missed the entrance was because your team had confused meters with feet again." She was a big woman, well over six feet in height and had fiery red hair that looked like she rarely combed it. "Back here is where I found the circle." She motioned for the two men to follow as she returned to the forested area.

  There, after a moment's walk, Andy stood staring in disbelief at a stone circle. The circle was approximately two feet across and consisted of six or seven fist sized rocks buried haphazardly in the dirt.

  "You, I am going to have fired!" Andy growled at the young researcher, "and you, I am going to kill!" Andy turned a furious gaze on Lucy.

  Lucy calmly pointed just beyond the small stone circle. There in the brush, barely visible, stood a full stone replica of Stonehenge. Time and vegetation had taken their toll on the stones, but they were still legible, and inscribed on the face of each rock was the ancient writings of the Enoch.

  "It's on the small stones, near the center, that I found the correct location of the Egyptian entrance," Lucy added smugly.

  Andy stood dumbstruck, trying to find a way to apologize and to reconcile the discovery of these immense stones. "Well, when I'm wrong, I'm really wrong," Andy offered as he scratched the top of his head.

  "I put the entrance about ten yards south of the team's present location. That's where it should be found," Lucy added.

  Andy immediately grabbed his satellite communications device and relayed the news to the Egyptian dig team.

  It didn't take long for the return message. Sure enough, the new location revealed the entrance.

  Andy spent the better part of that day conversing with the seven scientists now excavating in the correct location in Egypt, as he studied in ever greater detail all the markings Lucy was pointing out on the stones she had discovered.

  "I have to admit your work here is very impressive, and I have badly misjudged you." Andy said to Lucy.

  Lucy ignored the compliment, instead focusing on revealing more markings in other areas she had discovered.

  Suddenly, over the communications device, shouting and other sounds of chaos rang out from the Egyptian team. Andy asked the team what was happening and the reply he received was both frantic and jumbled. All he and Lucy could make out was, "Run…" and cursing mixed with the words, "some type of creature appeared!"

  Then came horrific screams of pain, then a sharp crack, and the communications device went dead.

  As if that were not enough, the three scientists standing in the ring of stones then witnessed a most remarkable event, one that would never be repeated.

  Chapter 22 Terrorism

  The entire event had been recorded by both satellites and nearby seismic sensors. Andy stared at his communicator in disbelief, trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

  Lucy said, "My god, what the hell happened there?"

  "I have no idea," Andy replied. The three stood in silence in the newly risen forest of the First Ones, and watched, astonished, as the replica of Stonehenge they had discovered glowed blue for a moment, then dimmed and faded away. The link with the fifth dimension was thus shattered and would never be rediscovered.

  Several days of confusion followed. The knowledge that Charger had attacked scientists and innocent civilians at the dig in Egypt was intolerable. This beast who had appeared out of thin air and created a total disaster was something that must be dealt with. His attack served as an impetus to humanity's desire to have all the Hyborgs destroyed. General Harris hatched a scheme to have Charger himself remove all the Lycans and Hyborgs from existence, but he decided not to implement the plan until later.

  Right now, humanity had a larger problem to deal with. The forest domes of the Enoch contained all the plants and animals a starving and dysfunctional world needed. As lead scientist in full command of the projects, Andy thought the domes needed a protector, and reluctantly decided that Lucy was the best qualified. Lucy and her grad students were given full authority for the protection of the forests and the use of the forest products in rejuvenating a war-ravaged world. They were enjoined to do so carefully.

  What started as a gift from humanity's distant ancestors and arrived at Earth's hour of greatest need soon degraded into chaos and calamity. The largest problem was the location of the domes. The Enoch had had no way of knowing that Dhuusamareeb, Somalia, would one day turn out to be the worst location on Earth.

  A country mired in brutal repressions and organized crime now held the best source of food for a starving population. The country's provisional government, formed after the war ended, claimed that they owned the domes, and they would only hand out the food and plants to those countries that had the capital to purchase them.

  One man had the backbone to say no, to say that those who remained on Earth had to put their old hatreds aside and start working together. This voice who rallied the world, and forced dissenters to step aside for the betterment of all the peoples of Earth, was Danny Opinhimmer. He was truly a president for a new world, a native American Indian kid from a small town who would destroy borders and, with the limited remaining population of Earth, create a single world government. Danny supported Lucy and her love for the great, ancient forests and confirmed that she was the protector of these remarkable oases of green. To appreciate the majesty of these forests with their exotic plants and ancient animals, one had only to look around at the remainder of the world.

  The invasion had destroyed all but a few regions on planet Earth, and these were stretched to their limits to support the survivors, including those that returned from the frozen poles. The incredible goodwill of the Inuit of the north and the research scientists of the south saved the lives of countless humans, and now those survivors needed to recuperate and regain their strength. They naturally turned to the exotic, ancient tracts with their staggering beauty, rich grasslands, incredibly tall trees, and robust wildlife as a means to that end.

  Only Lucy, who daily drove or walked through the forests and across the savannas of healthy, waving grasses, knew just how rich the areas were in life. She often glimpsed hedgehogs, skinks, and civet-like creatures on the prowl. Occasionally, a hartebeest, which looked like a precursor to the modern antelope, would raise its head above the grass and give her a long look from large, liquid, brown eyes. And, of course, where the hartebeest roamed, so did the red jackal, though it rarely let itself be seen. She sometimes glimpsed the enormous ears of African elephants browsing among the trees and heard the snarling roar of saber-tooth cats arguing over kills.

  Snakes abounded, and Lucy was forever seeing new and different varieties, grateful that she felt no aversion to these reptiles. Larks, warblers, and bush shrikes flitted everywhere in search of insect meals.

  Among the palms, she sometimes found shea trees and tasted their tart but nutritious fruit, as she marked their location on her charts. Their big, oil-rich seeds would be valuable both as food and medication. Acacia, or thorn trees, were everywhere and sometimes she came across a big baobab tree, indicating that this area had evolved from semi-desert, for the baobab stores water in its immense trunk against the dry seasons.

  She could have wandered the clean, verdant areas all day, but her duties as protector were heavy. She was often heard complaining about the apparently constant need of survivors to consume everything in their path. This stupidity would destroy the gift of the Enoch. To secure and maintain an ecosystem three hundred miles across was difficult at best and, at worst, it was a vulnerable garden wait
ing to be raided. Outdated warlords, a remnant of the past and an ideological throwback to the Stone Age, were determined to control this once tribal area, intending to get rich no matter what the cost to other survivors in a devastated world.

  Lucy was not about to let this happen, so she had massive walls erected around the forests to protect the gardens and the produce grown. Time and again the warlords, desperate to tear down the walls they felt did not belong on their tribal lands, encouraged people to commit acts of suicide. What Lucy could never make these people understand was that tribal lands no longer existed. People might still cling to the ideologies of times long past, but the traditions of property ownership had to take a back seat to survival.

  A final act perpetrated by the local chiefs of Somalia led to the deaths of hundreds of simple, ancient, tribal people. They chose to tunnel under the wall. The damage to the ecosystem was devastating. Plants were torn from the ground and diesel fuel poured on the remaining plants, then ignited, forcing Lucy to act. She installed computerized gun batteries around the three domes. The guns automatically killed anything that got close without proper authorization.

  "I just don't understand! We feed them with what we grow here in the same proportions as the rest of the world, and they still demand more! Are they insane? Do they not grasp the desperate conditions the world is facing?"

  Lucy was beside herself with rage. She had just witnessed another young life taken by the guns. "That's the third kid this week. They will never get close but still they try! The stupidity of this whole situation is that these kids are not starving. Their remains prove they were well fed and healthy." She spoke from the head chair of the conference room located inside dome Alpha. Her colleagues sat in attendance, listening and taking notes.

  The three domes had been labeled Alpha, Beta, and Omega. It was Omega that had been burned badly during the last raid, and now the walls there were being constructed to go downward into the ground just as far as they went upward.