Charger the Soldier (9 page)

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.

Dr. Opinhimmer continued, hoping to shore up
his argument. "What made it all conceivable was the discovery of
what were thought to be mistakes in the construction of Stonehenge.
My colleague found additional pits or small pot holes that were
assumed to be there as locking mechanisms for the upright stones,
but were found on the opposite side of the cap stones from where
they should have been." He wrapped his hands around his coffee cup
to stop himself waving his hands around like a lecturer. "What he
discovered, according to this old manuscript, was that if one
poured a mixture of mercury and other, dissimilar liquid metals
into the pits of a completed Stonehenge circle, and those holes
were at certain angles, in an electrical storm the stone circle
created static electricity in huge arcs, much like a Tesla
coil."

He noted with satisfaction that the students
were all sitting on the edge of their seats.

"The combination of the dissimilar liquefied
metals creates a weak electrical charge and the sarsen stones are
thought to give a resonance or a tone that is transmittable. The
static was so severe that the people observing the process were
safe only if they stationed themselves in another enclosure made of
wood, situated a few miles away but close enough that they could
still watch."

"So what good was that machine to primitive
Britons?" a student asked. Her face reflected what was probably an
inner struggle between believing his story and trying for
scientific detachment.

"That's the million-dollar question!" Dr.
Opinhimmer exclaimed. His excitement made his voice gruff. "We
don't know. But here in Tepe, the north circle of stones, with the
carving of the ringed city, seems to be built in the same manner.
So why bury the site? Is there scientific importance to this area?
Would the church want this type of knowledge concealed from the
public?"

He realized that staring into his mug was not
going to produce hot coffee. He rose and poured a fresh cup. "This
dig site is a gathering of concentric circles, like a grouping of
mini Stonehenges." Sitting down again, he continued. "What if this
site is a transceiver, a way to communicate with those ancient
humans who left Earth before the last ice age? And what if
Stonehenge is a recreation of that lost technology?"

"I've got to be honest with you, Professor,"
said one of his more ardent students. "A group of stone rings
doesn't sound like any type of usable technology. If this society
of humans lived and thrived on Earth before the last ice age, and
somehow gained space travel, a group of rocks is not consistent
with the types of technology needed for such an advanced people.
And to suggest that this group of rocks transmits anything seems
unrealistic. Any sounds given off by ringing stones in a thunder
storm would be drowned out by the thunder. And, in any case, would
the sound be loud enough to transmit out into deep space?"

The professor shouted, "I like you!" He was
pleased with the student's interest. "You are quite correct in this
line of thinking, with only one exception. My hypothetical ancient
human society was great in technology 20,000 years ago, before the
last ice age started, but would have been utterly erased from
existence by Earth processes. The survivors left behind would have
had no technology to help them survive that span of time, but would
have retained language. That means stories and history."

He took a breath and continued. "This group
of transmitting stones may be just their imaginative recreation of
what the ancient humans had, but skewed as stories always are when
passed down through time."

Some of his students nodded.

"My friend who worked on Stonehenge has
created a computer model based on this line of reasoning, and he
has concluded that the stone machine with its rare metals and high
voltage does indeed give off a tone. However, a recent and more
exciting discovery made by a dredging ship just off the coast of
Porthcawl, in the Bristol Channel, was another stone ring. This
ring is similar to our Gobekli Tepe site and has been dated to
around the time of the ice age. It is also covered by mounds of
sand, now deep beneath the ocean waters."

Dr. Opinhimmer glanced around the table and
saw that all of the students seemed to now be in agreement with
him. He was positive that this site was of scientific importance
and had to be a direct threat to the church. That there might have
been a technologically superior race of humans before the writings
of religion, and yet not mentioned in those writings would indeed
create turmoil in an already fragile and endangered church.

He continued to explain his reasoning. "The
real problem here is that 12,000 years back, when this site of
concentric stone rings existed, science tells us that the area
would still have been under a thick sheet of ice. So if the dating
we used is correct, then this site was built as soon as the ice
retreated. But it makes more sense to guess that this area was
instead an oasis. A lush, thick, forested, tropical area surrounded
by ice."

Hours had passed since he and his students
had hidden themselves away in the small tent. He noticed that the
stars were now shining and suggested that they move outside to
enjoy the cool evening air.

The group gathered around a fire pit, lit a
fire, and continued the debate. One of the students asked, "So what
does this all mean, Professor? Are we working on a site that might
change the course of human history?"

"I can't say. This whole conversation has
been an exercise in thought," the professor replied. "But I can add
this to the mix. About two years back, I read a paper on the
discovery of human remains in Florida that were dated at around
20,000 years old."

"I read that paper too," said a student. "But
it was thought to be too problematic and so was dismissed."

"We don't need to debate the politics of
scientific discoveries here," Dr. Opinhimmer said. "But what was
found with the human remains is definitely problematic. This human
was found with a degraded piece of metal that might have been used
as a knife. Metal was not used until much later in human history,
and when the supposed knife itself was tested, suggested something
disturbing. It seems the metal was a blending of compounds, much
like that of old Japanese Samurai swords." He was getting tired
now. He wanted to stop speaking and let his mind drift. The
students were silent, perhaps working hard to process all the
information he had offered them.

The silence was disturbed by a tall
thin-faced man who slipped from darkness into the light of the
campfire. It was one of the dig site managers. He pulled the
professor aside from the group around the fire. "You have been
recalled to the university. Apparently the Dean wants a personal
update on our progress. You will be leaving tomorrow, so you better
pack your gear."

Dr. Opinhimmer grudgingly headed toward his
tent, the students groaning and protesting that the conversation
had ended too abruptly. He agreed, but what could he do about it?
No doubt the Dean also wanted to discuss the continuing
demonstrations by members of the church. That institution's
tendrils reached everywhere.

F
or the first time in years, Brother Ben dressed in
what he called civvies: tattered jeans, tee shirt, black leather
jacket. He placed the rest of his clothing in the small suitcase,
ran his hands over the black garments to ensure they lay flat and
smooth, closed the case and looked around his room. He had lived a
happy and comfortable life here these past fifteen years, but the
old manuscripts discovered underneath the monastery conflicted
strongly with the truths he had held so dear. Moving the small
crucifix across the shelf, closer to the light beaming in through
the little window, Ben sighed and turned to leave the room for the
last time.

His mentor and friend, Father Mulcahy, was
waiting for him in the hall. "I wish you would change your mind,"
he said, placing his hand on Ben's shoulder.

"I just can't, Father. I tried to be strong
in my faith in God, but as I transcribed those manuscripts, I found
it increasingly difficult to abide by the rules you laid out for
me." Ben's voice was full of sorrow for this was the hardest thing
he had ever had to do. The church had been wrong in choosing him to
transcribe the ancient documents but he had promised never to
reveal what he had learned, for fear of damaging the already
tarnished reputation of the church. If ever the truth was known in
the larger world, the work done by many committed people over the
centuries would all be in vain.

Ben tried to dismiss those pages as the work
of a madman, just a fringe writer bent on finding some way to get
his work into the Bible. But, as more and more work surfaced
through the internet, work done by others with nothing to gain, Ben
realized he had interpreted the most important pages ever produced
regarding the story of Enoch.

"Maybe I was too hard on you, too demanding.
I blame myself for this, but I truly felt that, of all my students,
you were the brightest and that this was the work God had planned
for you," Father Mulcahy said as they walked down the long, dark
hall. His tall staff clicking on the stone floor, Father Mulcahy
went on. "God has chosen a new path for you to walk, and I pray He
will keep you safe all the days of your life, my friend. If you
ever need anything, I will always be here for you."