Charger Chronicles 3: Charger the God Read online

  THE CHARGER CHRONICLES

  Book 3 CHARGER THE GOD

  by

  LEA TASSIE

  Copyright 2016 Lea Tassie

  Published by Lea Tassie at Smashwords

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without

  prior written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the

  author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or

  dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1 Dart speaks to Reader

  Chapter 2 Abarth meets Charger R/T

  Chapter 3 Pennington on a mission

  Chapter 4 First attack on Crest

  Chapter 5 Charger R/T on Crest

  Chapter 6 Second attack on Crest

  Chapter 7 Birth of Dart

  Chapter 8 Charger R/T destroys heaven

  Chapter 9 Betrayal of Pennington

  Chapter 10 Abarth attacks Charger R/T

  Chapter 11 Abarth attacks humanity

  Chapter 12 Fighting back

  Chapter 13 A timely escape

  Chapter 14 Dwarves investigate giants

  Chapter 15 Attack of the black sphere

  Chapter 16 Terrorist onslaught

  Chapter 17 Singularity

  Chapter 18 Dart on Planet B

  Chapter 19 Charger R/T meets Charger

  Chapter 20 Hidden menace

  Chapter 21 Judgment day

  Appendix

  Timeline

  Glossary

  About Lea Tassie

  Also by Lea Tassie

  Grateful thanks to all those people who helped make this novel better: Leanne Allen, Anna Becker, Sharon King-Booker, Laura Langston, Phil Sutton and, most of all, to my science guy.

  Millions long for immortality who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. (Susan Ertz)

  Chapter 1 Dart speaks to Reader

  I hope you're ready for the third and final instalment of humanity's history, Reader. Do you remember how the second instalment ended?

  That's right. Charger R/T, the First Ones, and the black sphere god were captured in a time-lock in the year 2640 CE.

  Yes, I know this is 4800 CE, and we still have a little more than two thousand years of history to cover. And not much time in which to do it. Charger figures the giants will attack within a couple of days. So I'm going to skip the first thousand years.

  Didn't anything happen then?

  You'll find it hard to believe, but humanity was actually at peace for all those years. There were tremendous scientific advances, though. And the original black hollow planet, Neo Terra, once used as a world ship, was made to orbit New Eden, just like a moon. Fantastic cities rose skyward, inhabited by thriving humans finally safe from the villainous Grays and the malevolent black sphere god.

  The advances in science really were fantastic. Long ago, when humans discovered the Higgs boson in what was called a super collider, they began to realize that other types of particles should exist. These became known as exotic particles. Because everything in the universe is made of elements, such as gold, silver, and oxygen, the exotic particles had to be elements, too.

  These particles couldn't be seen but, through mathematics, we knew they had to be there. What we found was truly revolutionary, for the new particles turned out to be linked to elements we already knew. Sort of like anti-gold, or anti-oxygen. We found anti-gravity elements, and eventually, anti-aging elements.

  Yes, Reader, those anti-aging elements are the reason I'm well over a thousand years old.

  With these discoveries, we realized that we could create anything, and I do mean anything. We could repair oceans, soil, and air, and even recreate life. To people from the twentieth century or even later, what we did would have seemed like magic.

  Try to imagine you're a cave man, and you meet a person who makes gold rings from rocks. To you, this is pure magic, because the best you can do is bang the rocks together and maybe chip off a piece here and there.

  It's just that we understand things better scientifically. But humanity itself didn't change much. We were always a brutish, savage, loving species capable of amazing good as well as tremendous evil. We could be disciplined, faithful, and honorable but, for all that, we were still vulnerable to our baser instincts.

  People have always wondered what other species live out there in space. We knew about the Grays but we mistakenly thought their society had self-destructed. So we went exploring and discovered a third race of beings. They were quite weird.

  Well, imagine a water world. Now remove the water and replace it with formamide. Formamide is basically a clear liquid produced from formic acid, and it stinks horribly. These beings, like a combination of fish and bird, flew around their planet's surface, going to work and playing games, much as humans did.

  But they were enormous, their young the size of dinosaurs. Their world was massive, too. Every couple of years, their world would get really hot, up to 180 degrees Centigrade. This caused the formamide to turn into carbon monoxide and ammonia, and that's when these crazy-looking fish/bird things developed legs and walked around. There was hard land beneath the liquid. They appeared to communicate with one another, and they did build homes to live in, and farmed some really sick-looking jelly things.

  Yeah, it was gross to watch them eat those.

  Scientists decided the best way to interact with these things was to become them, so a team of people altered their bodies to look like these creatures. It was nearly two years before the team returned and gave their report. The information was quite unsettling. I won't even try to describe their sex life. We decided to wait a bit longer before trying to make friends with them. The plan was to return when they were more technologically prepared to understand us.

  Is Charger going to be in this part of the story?

  Oh, very much so! You do remember he's called Charger R/T now? The original Charger died on Neo Terra, in flames, and was buried there. But later on, the Prime Taskoid collected his remains, resurrected him and called him Charger R/T.

  R/T stands for 'resurrected terminus.'

  Yes, the 'living dead.'

  Are you scared yet, Reader?

  No? Oh, I see, you still think he's a hero. Well, let's get started on the story.

  It's the year 3640 CE and in the largest city on New Eden stands a crumbling statue from an almost forgotten time in the past. Though people no longer remember why it's there, they believe this remarkable statue should be maintained. Construction crews led by Abarth, the project manager, will move the statue in order to rebuild the crumbling foundation. And, in so doing, discover a device of alien design and unknown origin buried deep beneath it.

  What do you suppose will happen when they open Pandora’s Box?

  Chapter 2 Abarth meets Charger R/T

  New Eden was a beautiful world, where the sun almost always s
hone from a clear blue sky. It was a wonderful time in humanity's existence, too, for everyone had plenty of food and good-paying work and there were no conflicts anywhere on the planet. High education standards meant that every graduate was ready to endure the rigors of adult life. There were no unwanted or unprepared children. Because so many humans had been destroyed, the value of life was finally fully appreciated. Cities were beautiful because humanity had finally learned to blend construction with nature and to avoid ugly giant blocks of concrete. The waters were clean, the air crisp and fresh. Technological improvements in industry were the norm, and the old belief that there were things humanity could not do now seemed foolish.

  Some old city areas, however, were ragged and rundown. In the great city of Eur, in the district known as Old Town, was a small lake with a little island in the center, on which stood gushing fountains. From the four points of the compass, walkways with bridges led foot traffic to this island. The central feature was a statue, so old that few knew why it had been built.

  Today, project engineers were assessing the stability of this statue, which stood more than twenty meters high and leaned precariously to the right. The only word that could still be made out at the base was 'peace.' The statue had the shape of a man, but twisted and contorted, with beastly attributes, assumed to be like this because of weathering and decay. It looked like an evil specter, not a hero.

  Abarth stood with a computer device in hand, facing the statue and recording the size and stability of this massive structure of marble and granite.

  "Can't say I’ve ever seen anything this ugly before," Dan said. He was a junior management type, with years of experience sitting behind a desk. This was his first time out in the field, actually doing structural engineering, and the only comment he could come up with concerned appearance.

  "Our job is not to evaluate the artist, but to support the project in its original incarnation," snapped Abarth, his temper always quick to rise. He could count the number of friends he had on both thumbs. People resented his smug, arrogant attitude.

  "I'm sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to judge," Dan said soberly. "Do you suspect the soil conditions are failing and this is the reason for the lean?" He hoped to portray a sense of true commitment and interest.

  "The soil is fine and the base clearly correct, but I am detecting a small void or pocket a meter or so below the west corner that seems to be failing. That is the reason for the lean! With a couple of anti-gravs hooked to the sides, we can have a pump crew fill in the failing area." As Abarth pointed to the locations on the statue where he wanted the anti-gravity devices to be attached, his computer beeped a warning.

  Computers had, by this time, achieved limited awareness. Abarth's computer was warning the two men about something in the void.

  Abarth stared at the small screen floating in the air before him and scowled. "Odd, there seems to be something in that cavity. We'd better have a crew excavate it first. I will have a team here tomorrow."

  "Good idea, sir," responded Dan eagerly.

  The two men returned to their hotel for the night and Abarth headed straight to the bar. He quickly drank himself into oblivion, ignoring the disgusted reactions of the patrons around him. Near closing time, he dragged his inebriated carcass to his room and, not bothering to undress, passed out on the bed.

  Life on New Eden may have been a pleasure for everyone else, but not for Abarth. In the morning, he awoke to his computer encouraging him to rise. It laid out the day's events from the calendar program, sounding like a mother prepping a child for school. During the night, microscopic nanobots in the ventilation system had circulated, cleaning and repairing all the surfaces. Abarth's clothing was refreshed, the smells of alcohol and the stains of the night's drinking removed. As Abarth stumbled into the kitchen, the computer prepared a list of available food, which Abarth instantly rejected. He used a sonic brush to clean his teeth and headed downstairs to the lobby.

  Dan waited patiently near the front door. When he saw Abarth, he tried to portray a sincere concern by asking how his boss had spent the evening.

  "Shut the hell up and get in the vehicle," snapped Abarth. His head hurt.

  Dan had come from a well-to-do family and found it difficult to tolerate Abarth's insulting behavior but, rather than react, he bottled up his dislike for the man.

  What made Abarth so miserable? His wife and three daughters had undergone the now common molecular gene therapy, a technology to extend the human life span. But the therapy went wrong. He watched as his wife and three girls aged to their deaths within four months, helpless to stop the mutating molecules. He'd had four months of listening to cries of agony from his little girls, and his wife's pleas to stop the suffering.

  Though the death of his family was in itself devastating, Abarth was further embittered because he had been unable to get any satisfaction from the medical practitioners. Medicine now held out the possibility of near immortality to all and, because the courts had decreed that the benefits to mankind outweighed any risk of death, the medical community was unaccountable to the law.

  At first, Abarth merely wallowed alone in his grief. Eventually it came to him that the people of his time were stupid and frustrating. They had grown fat, lazy, and willing to accept anything that came to them. They didn't fight anymore. As far as he could see, there was no will to improve, no will to innovate. They just accepted.

  "I expect a coring crew to be at the site," Abarth said to Dan as he drove the vehicle to Old Town. "I want you to set up a perimeter barricade to keep tourists away from the west side of the base. I will have the crew start digging toward the void so we can determine what, if anything, exists in that cavity."

  Abarth's commands were clear and Dan agreed quickly and willingly.

  "When you get that done, go into Old Town and get me a coffee," Abarth said. "Then call the office and tell them you don't have enough work to do with me, and request they give you a second shift."

  Dan again willingly agreed.

  Abarth pressed on with his demands, hoping that Dan would snap, fight back, and stand his ground. But, no matter how much Abarth dumped on Dan's back, he just took it. Finally, Abarth gave up in frustration. Dan didn't seem to have any idea that Abarth wanted him to fight back. That was the problem with the new humans, Abarth thought. They were all like Dan.

  Efficient technology supported the enormous statue while the ground at the west corner of the base was being vaporized and, within minutes of starting the process, the void had been breached. Air hissed out as light fell on the interior, and a strange yellow glow emanated from deep within. The workers remarked on the strange feeling of static they were experiencing, but Abarth dismissed it. He shouldered past the workers and moved into the interior. He didn't fear a possible cave-in, for the walls of the void were held firmly in place with a repulse field.

  In the middle of the cavity sat an alien-looking device, like a box, and about half the height of the average person. Abarth carefully scanned the device and, sure from his readings that it posed no danger, he reached out to touch it. There was unknown writing on the surface. He carefully gauged the weight of the object by trying to tip it slightly, then called for two workers to help him remove the artifact.

  To suggest that the object bonded with Abarth would be unrealistic, but it had been programmed long ago to respond to the first intelligent living organism that made contact with it. Now free from the confines of the cave, it was slowly reviving, emitting a yellow glow and humming. Abarth felt like a scientist from thousands of years in the past, holding a clay pot. The writing on the object was a complete mystery and, though it was obviously a container, what was its function? Did it hold water, wine, rocks? Any guess was a good guess if one had no idea what it was for.

  This alien device was a complete enigma. A team of specialists had been called to the site and they quickly established one fact. The object would stop functioning if more than a meter away from Abarth. Only when he was close by did th
e device emit the yellow glow and hum to life.

  "Seems it likes you," one of the workers joked. Abarth was not amused.

  A secure location was suggested and a group of scientists drafted to work with Abarth in discovering the purpose of this alien device. "It has to be something our ancestors used, or had access to," Abarth commented to one of the lead scientists.

  "What makes you believe that?" the scientist responded.

  "It was buried beneath the statue, so must have been deliberately placed there." As Abarth replied, he practiced moving closer, then further from the device, testing the level of response to his presence.

  "Not necessarily. That's guilt by association. For all we know, the object could always have been there and the ancestors just built on top of it." The reasoning from the lead scientist was logical and the others there agreed with his assessment.

  "I might agree with you, if not for the obvious," Abarth said coolly.

  "And what would that be?" queried the scientist, irritated by Abarth's resistance to reason.

  "First, you have no idea what you're talking about, and second, the engineer who erected this heavy statue had to make structural adaptations to the surrounding surface to support it. I can see that this cavity was man-made and, until the base began to crumble, it supported the statue above quite adequately." Abarth thus destroyed any chance of becoming friends with the scientists. To say what one thinks is always a difficult path for those that practice it, but Abarth didn't care.

  "Again, I disagree with your assessment," retorted the scientist. "It may be true that the cavity was man-made, but there is little evidence to support the idea that humans placed the alien object in the cavity."

  As humanity grew slowly away from its more primal side, those with intelligence applied reason and logic in almost every situation. No matter how much Abarth pushed people, they never snapped. Those individuals who took part in the molecular gene therapy program, and survived, were thought to be facing immortality, or close to it. This gave many a smug sense of false superiority and, though Abarth had survived the program, he now regretted being involved.