Charger the Soldier Read online

  My eyes open. It is the same cave, the same faces. They have food and I am hungry. I rush them and they move for safety. With the food, I run back to the safe spot. I growl at faces who walk up to me, and I eat the food quickly. The food is strange. It is not beast, and not from trees. I finish all the food and look for more, but there is none. I sit for a long time, and I am at peace. My eyes close.

  My eyes open. There is much pain, the other faces are hitting me. They have rocks and the pain is great. I must flee. I move away from the hitting faces with the rocks and run toward a corner of the cave, but they pursue me and continue hitting. I growl and threaten, but they have no fear of me and the pain grows. I fall and the faces hit me until it grows dark.

  My eyes open. The cave has no light. I do not know if it is day or night. The pain returns but it is less. I try to move and find my leg will not work. I try to walk, but fall down. There are no rocks near me and I fear the faces will return to hit me again. I see a faint light and I crawl toward it. I find myself outside the cave, and I know it is near morning because the round fire is returning to the sky.

  I think, what is sky, why do I now know this? I see my hands for the first time; they are mine, which I did not know before, but now I do. They are good hands, strong hands, I can make many rocks move with these hands and use them to kill beasts. My hands have made fire. The others in the group like it when I make fire and they make pleasing sounds to me. The round fire in the sky hurts my eyes but I feel safe and warm, I sleep for a time under a tree.

  My eyes open. The ugly faces with big eyes have caught me. I struggle to get free and make the sounds that frighten, but they do not go away. I am brought back to the cave and the family. The evil eyes release me and I return to the corner in the cave. I sit and ponder the word evil. How do I know this word? Where did it come from? I sit watching for a long time, then a family face is returned to the cave by the evil-eyed ones. The family face shows much pain and cries. I understand pain and crying, but do not know how.

  There is a new light in the cave and I approach it, but when I look at the light, I see another face. I see another cave through this light and when I look around this new cave, the same face returns to block my view. I make the sounds of strength. The face in the light makes a strong face but has no sounds. I reach out my hand to touch the light and the other face does the same. Our hands touch, but the other's hand is cold. I retreat to a far corner and sleep.

  My eyes open. I decide to return to the light of the other cave. When I look inside, the other face returns. I see that it copies me. I raise a hand and the other face does the same; I move my hand and the other face does the same. I show my tongue and the other face does the same, but when I touch my face, it touches its face.

  I think the face is mine! It has the same color hair and the same hands, and when a family member walks past, they are also in the other cave. I am surer now that this face I see is my face, and I decide to explore it. I call a family member to come see, and I show this female her face. I stop and wonder, how do I know that word, how do I know she is a female? I spend much time looking at her and she stops to look at me; we are different. The sharp sting in my back returns and so does the pain, then all goes dark.

  I am on a cold table, the table is flat, and I know what these names mean. The same evil eyes with the gray-colored skin return to my eyes and use small metal tools to cut into my head. I am bound and cannot fight, which angers me and I shout out. I now understand that these evil gray things only cause pain when nearby and, at the first chance, I will run from this place. Pictures start flashing in my head. I do not understand them, and do not know how they are possible.

  It is a mirror. I now know the object in the cave is a mirror. I try to say the word 'mirror' that is in my head but there is something choking me, something is covering my mouth and I start to panic. I cannot breathe and I fight for air. The evil gray face reappears and touches me with a metal tool. The pain is great, then I black out.

  It has been much time. I know this because many members of my family have been brought into this room and have been cut with those sharp tools. We talk to each other with our new words, and we ask if anyone understands what is going on, but we are all lost.

  There is one evil Gray that talks to me. It tells me I have a name and it calls me Blix. I do not understand all that this Gray says, but I try. Sometimes it will bring me from the cave into a room to show me pictures. It asks me many times to name what is in the pictures. I do not like these things called 'clothes.' They are tight around my neck. The Gray asks me again to name the pictures. "Rock, tree, girl, fire circle," I say. The Gray is angry and hits me, and tells me the sun is never called the 'fire circle.'

  "I do not like this talk," I say to the small gray thing. It says I must try, but I am unsure how it makes its words and how I can hear them.

  I find myself back inside the cave with family, and notice for the first time that the entrance to the cave is a door of bars that prevents us from leaving. This I now realize and I feel trapped. "We must escape," I say to the small female.

  She agrees and asks me, "Do you have a plan?"

  I have to think for some time, unsure of what 'plan' means. Then I realize its meaning and reply, "I will find a plan soon. We will plan to escape."

  She agrees and tells the others. They all like 'a plan' and we decide to plan together. The pain in my head is growing less each day and I begin to feel like I understand why my head hurts. It is because the Grays are putting into my head many words I never had before and they all mean something.

  I have begun to understand days. We are awakened each day and given a task to complete. If we complete the task right, we eat; if wrong, we are punished. We have to work together to complete the tasks the Grays give us, and every day the tasks grow more difficult.

  The small female is called Reko, and the old man is Ook. They work with me and we try hard to get the tasks right so that we and the others can eat. I am understanding more each day and it feels like my head makes things easier. I think it tells my hands how to take care of the work. The rocks I once held now seem primitive in some way. I have stolen some metal objects. Reko, Ook and I are making a weapon.

  Day fifty-six. Some time ago, the Grays showed me how to draw the words I have learned and gave me very thin bark to practice on. I have started writing a diary of events. This will help us determine the pattern these Grays use. We hope to exploit this pattern, which may be their weakness. We have discovered, in our travels to different parts of this complex, that there are other cells with barred doors. Reko observed that members in these prisons are at varying stages of development, and that some members are not progressing as rapidly. They are therefore subjected to much torture and violence, so we have doubled our efforts to escape.

  Ook has begun to explore the lower areas of this complex by using labor duties, such as cleaning, as a ruse to find a passage out. I have developed a simple but effective weapon out of the metal instruments we have stolen. Through a series of gears and spinning shafts, I can accelerate a bolt of sharpened steel to travel at great speed. It is designed to start traveling through the air slowly at first, then increase in velocity, and should easily penetrate the repulse field these Grays use as a shield.

  Day one hundred and eight. We are ready to attempt our escape. At daybreak, when the Gray enters our cell, I will launch the projectile. This will kill the Gray and give us access to its control unit. With that, we can take the path Ook has discovered to a place of safety. This will be the last entry in this journal.

  "Reko, take point, and when the Gray enters, start the distraction," I say firmly. We have been planning this for days, and I feel confident that all aspects of this plan have been considered. The Gray starts fumbling at the cell door, releasing the locks so it can enter.

  We are surprised. Two Grays enter the room, where it is normal for only one to enter. I nod to Ook. He knows what to do, because we prepared for this possibility. Without
warning, Reko throws a large object towards me, just missing my head, and begins to yell at me. The first Gray sees this conflict and moves toward Reko to intervene. This is when Ook begins to use violent behaviors to distract the second Gray.

  With both Grays occupied and paying no attention to me, I reach into the cavity we had created in the wall to hide the weapon and, with a quick click, the bolt is fired. I yell "Now!"

  As the first Gray falls to the floor, hit by the sharpened steel, Reko and Ook both attack the second Gray. This gives me just enough time to reload and fire the second bolt which hits the target perfectly and drops the second Gray to the floor.

  "We have little time, we must go now," Ook shouts.

  "Leave it!" Ook shouts again as I bend over the first Gray but I stop long enough to remove the control device the Grays use for their repulse field. Reko gathers up our gear and the three of us rush from the cave toward Ook's escape route. As we run down the halls, we unlock the other cave doors, releasing all of us from the Grays' captivity.

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  "I saw two more tribes captured by the Grays' flying machines the other day. If we don't leave here soon, they will find us again, too," I said to Ook as we gathered wood for a small evening fire. It's been almost two hundred days since we and the other human captives escaped the Grays' complex. Most of us are surviving hidden in the hills and deep in the forests.

  "I agree, Blix. We will leave tomorrow morning," responded Ook as he stood holding an armful of gathered wood. "I think I have managed to find a location where the Grays will not follow us."

  The Gray aliens had a preference for us, the species Homo erectus, and Ook had guessed that hiding among the small groups of ancient Homo habilis still clinging to life in our changing world would afford a good deal of safety. Not only were we Homo erectus, but now we were also genetically modified humanoids and the Grays would not expect us to mingle with primitives.

  "I think the Grays perceive the primitives of the south as unfit stock, so they will make for a good place to hide." Ook knelt down to pick up one more piece of wood for the fire. Satisfied that we had enough, we started back toward the cave where Reko and the others were hiding.

  "How will we convince Reko and the other women of this? You know how much they fear those primitives," I asked as I plodded along behind Ook through the vegetation and underbrush.

  "I have managed to replicate the repulse device you stole. With one of those in the possession of each woman, they should feel safe enough," Ook responded quietly. He had seen a herd of giant deer ahead; one of those would make for many good meals.

  Ook pointed to the game as he dropped the wood. This was a good time to hunt. I took aim at one of the deer with the weapon I had created. Winding up the gears till they were tight, I released the bolt. We needed just one kill for there were only twelve mouths to feed for this night. The kill was instant, and we approached the dead beast.

  We quickly fashioned a sled with branches from the surrounding trees and dragged the deer and our firewood back to the cave. The group ate well that night and retired to sleep early, deep inside the hidden parts of the cave.

  In the morning we set out south, according to Ook's plan. It would take us a good week to reach the borders of our primitive relatives. We kept mostly to the thick forest areas for protection. Whenever one of us thought he detected the sound of the Grays' search drones, he would immediately fall to the ground and cover himself in debris. This worked well against the drone's detection equipment.

  While we traveled, we sometimes talked. Reko said to me, "Did you notice the Grays look a lot like us?"

  I hooted with laughter. "Your eyes lie. The evil ones are much shorter. They are skinny and hairless, and they have gray skin like leather. And big heads."

  "They have eyes," said Reko. "And two legs and two arms, like we do."

  "They are not human," I said firmly. "Their pupils are vertical and their irises are gray, like their skin. Besides, they only have four fingers on each hand."

  Reko said no more.

  Finally, we arrived in the area we had sought and crouched on a small rise overlooking the camp of primitives below. I asked, "How will we approach these men?"

  Ook answered. "Blix, I have given it considerable thought. I have concluded that there is no good way to introduce ourselves. These are a violent and protective people. They are as likely to attack us on sight as they are to welcome us into the group."

  "But this is our only hope for survival," I replied.

  "I realize this, and have come to a conclusion," Ook said confidently, though his tone betrayed fear. "I will approach them alone, while the rest of you take up positions of tactical superiority."

  "You expect a fight?" I queried as I scratched. My furs were itching me.

  "I hope to avoid a fight, but it seems that you have one going on right now." Ook pointed to the tiny ants crawling on my clothing.

  I began to jump about, trying to keep the ants from the tender areas of my body.

  The group gathered close together, as Ook explained the plan. I had stripped off my furs and stood naked next to Reko while I continued to brush off the tiny ants, much to the amusement of the group.

  "Now you will understand the value of bathing after you gorge yourself on honeycomb," Reko said. The others laughed.

  After Ook explained the plan, the group broke up and we went to our designated positions. Ook walked toward the primitives, making plenty of noise so they would not think he was trying to sneak up. The primitives reacted as predicted. Once aware of his presence, they started yelling and grabbing thick sticks, smashing them violently on the ground in a threatening manner.

  Ook kept advancing, never flinching or stopping, much to the confusion of the primitive humans. As soon as he was close to the group, with the repulse device hidden in his palm, he raised his hands above his head and clapped them violently.

  The repulse field exploded outward, knocking all the primitives off their feet and sending them tumbling. They were stunned but instantly reacted with violence. They rushed Ook, who calmly clapped his hands above his head, again sending the attackers spiraling backward out of control.

  I was next to walk into the tribe's camp and repeat what Ook had done. Then Reko followed. One by one, the members of our small group approached the tribe, repeating Ook's actions. Finally, the primitives seemed to get the message. We then presented food as an offer of friendship. The better part of the day was spent trying to get the primitives to accept it. Finally, they did so.

  Several nights followed with some of us always on guard against the attacks of the primitives, who still seemed determined to drive us out, but they could not succeed against the repulse fields. As I took my turn one night, I wondered if my group was doing to the primitives exactly what the Grays had done to us. But the situations were different, I told myself. We were simply hiding; we were not attacking or hurting the primitives. In retrospect, the Grays' actions seemed even more evil than they had at the time.

  Many full moons passed overhead before the Grays' ship left the planet. We waited for a long time afterward but it did not return. Then we melded our two groups into one cooperative unit and started the journey towards the future.

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  Dart speaks to Reader:

  In the fullness of time, Blix's group directed the building of a village, which eventually grew into a town. Moving onward to cities and great empires, the humanoids' rise to world dominance took only a few thousand years. The alterations the Grays had made to these humanoids gave them the gift of advanced knowledge and, with that understanding, they became the First Ones.

  How do I know all this?

  Blix's diaries survived and his experience influenced the actions of the First Ones, who kept records of everything. Sure that the Grays would someday return, the First Ones prepared by building three great cities underground to house themselves and their technology. The first was built on the great continent of modern day Africa to store the
ir knowledge and their corporeal bodies. The second was built to the east in Egypt and provided a gateway to a higher dimension. The third city, meant to be a gift to the future, a sort of time capsule, was built to the west, in Britain.

  That done, the majority of the First Ones became of one mind, shed their bodies and took the name of Enoch, an old word for 'people of one planet.' Now immortal, they did not return to the surface of Earth after the cities were fully functional.

  Ordinary humanity continued to evolve without interference for almost a million years.

  Where were the Dinosauroids while all this was happening? Remember, they were clever and they stole much of the Grays' technology, including a couple of time-lock devices. They hung around on Earth long enough to watch what the First Ones were doing and to share some of their technology. But they, like the First Ones, were afraid the Grays would return and try to destroy them again. So they used one of the time-locks to put themselves into a parallel universe, one second into the future.

  What happened to the First Ones who didn't meld into one mind? You're good at remembering details, Reader.

  That's the next part of the story. This small branch of the First Ones settled on what was almost an island, connected to the mainland by just a narrow strip of land. A small verdant plain, surrounded by mountains, gave them their own country, which they called Mahoud, though in later times it was called Atlantis. And what they did with Mahoud will take your breath away!

  And where was Charger during all this?

  Oh, Charger wasn't born until 2010, about a million years after the Dinosauroids and the First Ones put themselves into time-lock, and long after the adventures of Mahoud. But his very beginning, like that of all humans, can be traced back to Blix and Ook, back to when the human line split from the primate line.

  Yes, stop and think about it. A million years is a very long time, and I've just covered roughly sixty-three million years of history in about an hour. And you know what, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Charger is descended from the mating of a First One with one of the primitive humans.