Lost Sols 1: Ancient Treasure (10 page)

Isabella was working in engineering when Vincent interrupted her. “Can you make a fragmentation bomb?”
he asked. “Sure, but what do you need it for?” she responded. “I’ve got a little surprise planned when the Captain is found. We need to eliminate as many of our enemies as possible. No sense in wasting an opportunity, and we have a good one now.” Vincent said. “No problem, it won’t take me long. Let’s get those bastards.” Isabella replied.

Back i
n the command center Vincent decided it was time to get underway. Circumstances for this expedition were constantly changing and he planned on staying one step ahead of his enemy. Getting to Mars as quickly as possible was of the highest importance. Let’s get our business taken care of so we can get to Mars."

The
Constellation left the surface of Rhea and was virtually invisible in the blackness of space. Once back in orbit around Rhea, Vincent gave the order to collect as much of the tratium orbiting the moon as possible. After seven hours of work the cargo bay was filled with various pieces of raw tratium. “Sarah, set a course for Titan. Patrick get us there as quickly as possible.” Vincent ordered.

Monique and
Dalton were in the weightless cargo bay inspecting the parts brought back from the hanger. "I can't believe you were part of a government which hid the existence of extraterrestrial life from the rest of humanity. The knowledge intelligent alien life had been found should have been shared with the world. Most government employees aren't qualified to make any common sense decisions. It's asinine arrogance to believe the government alone should have access to the information. How many pieces of alien technology are being covered up by the government in our solar system?" Dalton asked. Monique didn't appreciate being categorized as some governmental flunky. "I was only given information which was relevant to my assignment. I worked with some good people and we were trying to do what was right for the people of the United States. We didn't know about the hanger until the video was finally accessed. As far as I know we've found evidence of alien technology on Earth, Mars, Europa, and Rhea. It’s possible there are other places as well. If there are, I don’t know about it." she replied.

"The NASA photos always look so blurry and out of focus.
They've been doctored for decades to keep the truth away from the scientists and the rest of humanity. It's time for all these cover ups to be exposed. From the time humans could first write to the present day, there has been evidence of advanced alien life which has been buried. We only know about some of the cover ups and I'm sure there are more. The discoveries in Egypt, Lake Vida, the Goat Rocks Pyramid, and the Roswell incident represent solid proof of alien visitation. What else do you know?" Dalton asked. "That's pretty much all I know other then Atlantis was a real city at one time. We found the resting place. To the best of my knowledge the United States is the only nation which knows the resting place. The site is near Greece. If there are other secrets out there, I don't know about them. I have nothing left to hide. There’s no point in continuing your interrogation." Monique angrily replied.

The
part from the hanger Monique was holding looked familiar. It was rectangular shaped with multiple prongs sticking out the end. She realized it was the same part she had seen back at the CIA. Inside would be a data recording if her guess was right. She began to manipulate the prongs on the end of the device and it popped open. A data recording was inside just like the one from the Roswell incident. She grabbed Dalton. "Let's go, we have to find Vincent. Hopefully we can find a way to access the recording.” she said.

Dalton
handed Vincent the data recording and Monique explained what it was. "Do you know how the CIA accessed the previous recording found at Roswell?" Vincent asked. "I don't. The agency had technicians working for years. Eventually a device was constructed which was able to play and retrieve the data. Technically speaking I have no idea how it was done." she replied. "I’ll contact Enzo. Hopefully he can get us the schematics of the playback device so we can make our own and access this newest recording. It won’t be easy, and with the transmission delay it will take at least a couple of days." Vincent said.

As the crewmember who kept the Constellation running smoothly and slicing through space, Isabella was either bored or too busy.
This was one of the times she didn't have much to do. The ship was running smoothly and she had time for a new project. She was experimenting with the mysterious tratium material found in the rings. It was unlike anything she had ever seen.

She wasn't able to alter the material by striking it with a hammer or drilling into it.
She was unable to bend the tratium with any tool at her disposal. Not even a flake of it could be dislodged, despite her best efforts. The crew had brought so much of it on board and she hadn’t been able to do anything with it so far. In frustration she slammed one of the smaller pieces into a larger one. A small piece of the larger tratium rock became dislodged. She tried multiple times with the smaller piece and each time material came loose. Tratium wasn’t impervious after all. Taking out her blowtorch the material began to melt as heat was applied. It was not resistant to heat. She struck the melted material after it had cooled with a hammer and the results didn't change as nothing broke off. The tratium remained bound after having been melted. The material could only be altered by heating it. Further testing was necessary. Vulnerable parts of the ship could be protected in battle if she could figure out how to apply the melted material.

After reviewing the pictures from the chamber in the hanger,
Dalton found Vincent. “In these newest pictures there is a new hieroglyph. It is the adze-on-block hieroglyph. It represents someone who has been chosen. It is shown on the images of both Earth and Mars. On Earth the hieroglyph is near Greece and is present in a few other locations. The hieroglyph is shown all over the place on Mars. What do you think it means?” Dalton asked. “I’ve always believed there was once intelligent life on Mars. These aliens have shown they have an interest in protecting us. If there was once intelligent life on Mars it’s logical to assume the Martians would have been protected as well. Redundancy appears to be a trait of these aliens. I’d bet intelligent life was removed from both Earth and Mars at some point in the past and relocated. It’s possible the aliens have been removing life from this solar system for thousands of years. The question is why.” Vincent said.

Isabella told Vincent about the experiment with the tratium she conducted in the cargo bay.
"The tratium would provide us with protection against any manmade weaponry. I’ve been able to melt it and apply it to some test material.” she said. “Can we coat the entire ship with this material?" he asked the engineer. "I don't think we can coat the entire ship. It will be very time consuming and I estimate we can only coat about a third of the ship. There simply isn’t enough unless you want to go back and get more after we apply what we have." Isabella replied. As Vincent considered what the engineer told him, he began to formulate a plan. "We don’t have that kind of time. I think we were lucky to get away from Rhea when we did. Let's coat the back one third of the ship behind the tether. We won’t coat the cargo bay." he instructed.

William Spencer was not happy with the phone call he received. The satellite orbiting Rhea had been destroyed. A small asteroid had struck it dead center destroying it completely. An analysis of the video had been ordered. The satellite had arrived recently at the planet, and was expected to send data back for decades. A resource he had been counting on was now gone. His agent on the
Lexington would now be going in completely blind. He now had another problem in addition to his missing agents. A message was sent to his agent on the Lexington updating him on the situation.

Cramped quarters were nothing new to Captain Clint Samuels. As a former fighter pilot he was used to it.
He had been in space for many years and he knew his crew like the back of his hand. His new ship was approaching Rhea. He didn’t enjoy having CIA agent Trevor Thompson on board. The crew normally consisted of military personnel, and he didn’t like anyone on board who couldn’t be trusted. The one agency he would never trust was the CIA. For the last few years he had been leading a space operation team whose existence was only known by a handful of people. Normally his job consisted of hiding or camouflaging any alien technology found in the solar system, and returning any technology which hadn’t been previously discovered. He never returned to Earth empty handed and returned as much alien technology as possible. In time the military would find out the secrets and develop weapons no other nation could dream of. He had been on a dozen missions, and hadn’t failed in any of them.

It had been many years since he had been involved in a combat operation. He was confident the
Lexington would prevail against a simple transport and a civilian crew. This mission was very simple. He was to have the crew of any ship he found interrogated. If the crew knew classified information he was to make sure they were eliminated. His crew was the best the United States could produce, and his orders were always followed without fail. He was determined the fate of his Lexington would be much better then the fate of the aircraft carrier of the same name which was sunk in World War Two. The video from the alien craft which had crashed at Roswell was something new. He hadn’t known about the hanger until right before he left Earth. Their priorities were to be on the lookout for other ships. If none were found before their arrival at Rhea, he was to investigate the hanger. The ship descended toward the surface of Rhea, and he alerted the members of his team to prepare for deployment.

It was unusual for Enzo to be worried. But he was worried now. After receiving the message from Vincent he asked his contact inside the CIA to provide schematics for the playback device. His contact was able to provide a copy of the design. Unfortunately he had also been discovered and interrogated at length. He hadn’t been heard from since. Enzo knew the CIA would be coming for him soon. As a man who didn't like to take unnecessary risks it was time for action. This business with Vincent and the CIA would get him killed if he wasn’t careful. It was time to go away and disappear. Enzo made the necessary arrangements and uploaded the data to Vincent. He didn’t tell anyone he was leaving and put his emergency plan into action. He uploaded the schematics and informed Vincent he would be unavailable for awhile.

Aboard the Constellation Vincent received the communication from Enzo and quickly found
Isabella. The two of them went over the schematics and concluded they had all the necessary parts to construct the playback device. Vincent left the engineer to perform her work and went back to the command center. The Constellation would be arriving at Titan in a week. Vincent was hoping the loading of methane would be uneventful and done quickly. He would have to try and convince the personnel on the orbiting station his mission was routine. He needed to keep moving and not stay in one place too long.

The
Lexington landed on Rhea and Captain Samuels was ready to explore the hanger as quickly as possible. A review of the surface indicated a tarp had come off one of the alien crafts. While he and his team were in the hanger he would send a crewmember out to secure the tarp. The problem had occurred before. There was an indigenous mammal species on Rhea which looked like a cross between a raccoon and a rabbit. The species had small antlers which were somehow used in mating rituals. The animal resembled the mythical Earth jackalope. It was the most advanced species of animal on the moon. For some reason, the animals always found the tarps and chewed on them. He had lost one of his men when three of the animals attacked and punctured his EVA suit. After the incident crewmembers had been instructed to shoot the animals on sight.

He led his team out of the ship and in the direction of the hanger. The entrance wasn’t hard to find. It was surprising he hadn’t found it before. The team entered the hanger without incident. "Captain Samuels, we have found evidence someone
or something has been here recently. We can make out boot prints on the floor where the dust and dirt have been disturbed." Captain Samuels suspected as much already. He saw the same boot prints outside the hanger door. One of his team members reported a chamber in the rear of the structure had been found. “Take photos of everything, and take anything that’s not bolted down back to the ship. You know the drill.” he said. There were parts he hadn’t seen before.

The command center had been silent and peaceful. Vincent was enjoying the break. "Captain, we have activity on Rhea.
The cameras show people in the hanger. The camera on the interceptor with the body of the Captain is not showing any activity yet." Monique reported. "That was quick. You can bet they will know we were there. It should be very interesting when they find the Captain. Keep me updated, and let me know the second anyone approaches the interceptor. It’s only a matter of time." Vincent said.

Becky was tasked with the extravehicular activity.
She was assigned the mundane and boring job of fixing the tarp which was supposed to be covering the alien craft. It would take her longer to get in and out of the EVA suit then it would to fix the tarp. As she approached the craft she gasped when she saw what appeared to be a body in a flight suit sitting in the cockpit. She turned on the recording device attached to her helmet. The face of a man could be seen inside the charred EVA suit. She had no idea how long he had been there. The body was human from all appearances. She made sure to get a good recording of the face. The communications officer on the Lexington checked her status to see if anything was wrong. Her heart rate was not in the normal range. "I’m fine but I've found something unusual. I'm returning to the ship immediately." she said.

On the
Constellation the crew watched as the enemy crewmember walked away from the body of Captain Basso on the interceptor. "I wonder what she's thinking?" Monique asked. "She probably thinks it's another government operation she wasn't told about." Dalton said. Vincent was sure the next time anyone went back to the alien craft, it would be to retrieve the body of the Captain. "Monique, you will be up soon. It's time to prove where your allegiances are. Our enemy is not far behind."

Captain Samuels and his team returned from the hanger.
He would send a team leader and a transport pod to bring back the remaining parts from the hanger. When he returned to the command center he was told about the body in the alien craft. Becky was asked a second time what she had seen. He couldn't believe it. What was a human man doing in that craft? Humans had never been seen near any alien technology in the past. He thought he knew about all the classified programs in the solar system and on Earth. He hadn't heard anything about any government possessing a functioning alien ship. "We need to get the person in the interceptor on board. I want some answers. This doesn’t make any sense." He instructed three crewmembers to retrieve the body and to secure the tarp on the alien craft.

The video
took about a minute to reach the Constellation from the surface of Rhea. Vincent instructed Dalton and Monique to monitor the video constantly and to notify him immediately when anyone approached the alien craft. "Vincent there are three individuals approaching the alien vessel." Dalton reported. "Monique, trigger the device now." Vincent said.

Monique knew
she was now likely a target of the CIA and would never be going back to the agency. All her hard work and dedication had been thrown away. She hadn't even done anything wrong, and had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was paying the price. A future of her own making was still possible. Never again would she be put in a position in which she had no control. Vincent and the crew of the Constellation were definitely on to something. If she could stay alive, bide her time, and make smart choices, she had the chance to live a relatively normal life as long as she avoided the authorities. She had come to like the crew of the Constellation. The crewmembers hadn't fully accepted her yet, but appeared willing to give her a chance. Monique sent the command to trigger the fragmentation bomb on Rhea which would kill those in close proximity to the explosion. There was no longer any turning back.

Vincent was counting on the bomb
killing part of the enemy crew before they could return with Captain Basso to the Lexington. Even a cursory examination of the Captain would show the burn marks and injuries were not caused by a crash. His enemy would have little time to free the Captain and get away from the craft before the fragmentation bomb detonated. He watched the crewmembers of the Lexington anxiously as the video progressed. The crewmembers were struggling with the restraints on the Captain and were having trouble releasing him. Each passing second seemed like an eternity. Just as they were pulling the Captain from the craft the bomb finally detonated. The video feed abruptly stopped due to the explosion. Vincent ordered the last few seconds to be replayed. It was apparent the explosive device had gone off and caused catastrophic damage. The last image in the video showed shrapnel flying in every direction. “I think we got some of them. Hopefully the Lexington will be delayed for awhile.” Vincent said. Monique let out a heavy sigh. “I guess there’s no going back now.” she said.

"Captain, there has
been an incident with the team at the craft. The medical data indicates one crewmember has died, and the other two are in distress of some kind. None of them are communicating. “What happened? Replay the video.” Captain Samuels said. The explosion couldn’t be missed. “Where did the explosion originate from?” he asked. “The explosion originated from the body on the ship. Vital signs from the two remaining crewmembers have ceased. All of them are now dead." Captain Samuels wondered what could have possibly happened. It should have been a routine recovery operation. Losing people under his command wasn't something he was used to dealing with. "Display the external video, and zoom in on the area." There were four bodies lying on the ground. None of them were moving. Spots of red dotted the ground, which could have only been blood. He could see holes in the EVA suits worn by his crew. "Son of a bitch. I will lead a recovery team. We’ll investigate the incident and recover each body. Forward copies of the video and the medical data to my station." he said.

Tony opened his eyes and panicked. He was entombed in a slimy gross substance. Finding surprising strength he pushed outward and heard something crack and saw more light. Big globs of
gooey wetness were falling on the floor as he continued to push the material off his body. With the weight off his chest he was able to sit up and take in his surroundings. Five men were pointing guns at him. He put up his hands. “Hey guys, I’m fine. Put the guns down, I promise I won’t move.” he said.

Doctor Johnson watched as his patient regained consciousness. He tried to
brace himself for what might emerge from the cocoon. The man who suddenly sat up was definitely a surprise. From all appearances his patient was completely human. There were no visible signs which indicated otherwise. All vital signs still showed his patient was perfectly healthy and the fever had disappeared. “What’s your name?” he asked his patient. “My name is Tony Stephens.” The Doctor asked a series of questions and Tony gave all the right answers. “Mister Stephens you’ve been unconscious for over a week. You’ve undergone a metamorphosis of some kind. There has been a significant change in your appearance. I’m going to hand you a mirror. You will need to brace yourself. Tony took the mirror from the Doctor and looked at his face. He recognized the face looking back, he had seen the same face about sixty years ago. He looked exactly as he did when he was fifteen.

Normally Vincent was confident his decisions were correct.
He was second guessing himself about setting off the explosion. The government was already looking for him. Now they would still be looking for him, and they would also be pissed. His enemy would be delayed and he might be able to bluff them into believing he had access to alien spacecraft and technology. He believed it was a sound strategy and felt justified in the decision, but it was a big gamble.

The entire crew of the Constellation gathered in the command center.
Isabella was preparing to play the video recovered in the hanger on Rhea. "Whenever you’re ready Isabella." Vincent said. The video began once again in the blackness of space, and was being taken from a traveling alien ship. After a few minutes the ship was approaching a planet. As the ship got closer the planet appeared to be Earth. No other spacecraft could be seen. The ship was not changing course and approached from the dark side. "We should be seeing lights from cities. I'm not seeing lights or anything else indicating this was taken recently. It might be centuries old." Monique said. "Who knows when this recording was taken? Perhaps we’ll be able to translate the data on the displays at some point and find a date of some kind. The continents appear to be in their proper places at least." Dalton said.

The ship continued
the decent and was headed toward Greece. A dim light began to appear near the surface. As the ship got closer a landmass appeared. In the center a volcanic eruption was occurring. The light which had been seen was the glow from the lava. The ship continued the decent and landed in a beautiful circular courtyard. "That must be Atlantis. We know Atlantis was located on the island Thera in the Aegean Sea. This massive eruption would explain the disappearance of Thera." Monique said.

The video showed the pilot exiting the spacecraft in some sort of protective spacesuit.
It wasn’t like a normal spacesuit. A ring of light could be seen surrounding the alien. He appeared to be in an enclosed atmospheric environment. A dozen large alien ships could be seen on the ground. Each was massive, and must have been at least fifty yards long. Cargo doors on all the ships were open. Most were empty, but some had humans inside. Sounds could be heard as the pilot had left the hatch open. People were running in panic and volcanic ash was thick in the air. The scene was chaotic as many people were naked and almost all of them were screaming. Suddenly in the middle of the chaos, a group of aliens appeared among the frightened humans. The aliens were not in pressurized suits and were breathing the atmosphere of Earth. The crew on the Constellation was speechless as the scene unfolded. Many of the crewmembers thought they might see an alien at some point. To actually see a group of them alive and among humans was extraordinary and frightening at the same time. There were seven aliens currently being shown on the screen. Members of the species were at least eight feet tall with large elongated heads and bulbous eyes. Some of them were standing together with their long arms hanging down past their knees. The others were carrying staffs and trying to direct the people somewhere. An earsplitting screeching noise halted everyone in their tracks. One of the aliens held something to his mouth and began speaking. "Does anyone understand what he's saying?" Vincent asked. "I don't. It sounds like it might be a type of Semitic language, but I don't understand anything he's saying. There's a possibility he's speaking Atlantean. It's been speculated the people of Atlantis had their own unique language." Dalton said.

When the alien stopped speaking he lifted the staff he was holding into the air.
The staff thundered and discharged an electrical bolt into the air. The people immediately stopped running and began boarding the alien transports. With each passing minute there were less people running in panic and the ships began to become crowded. At one point a crying toddler could be seen frantically calling for a parent. One of the aliens gently picked up the small child and brought her to a ship. After about an hour the streets were looking empty. Only the occasional alien could be seen. The sound cut out as the alien shut the hatch and boarded his craft again. Within only a few seconds the ship was leaving the surface.

As the s
hip made a turn, a deep massive explosion could be heard. The video showed the entire volcano blowing itself into oblivion. A tsunami could be seen in the distance heading inland. The sea was swallowing the island. The tsunami came ashore and washed over the lava. Massive amounts of steam and smoke obscured any remaining sight of the quickly disappearing island. The ships hovered for a time observing the devastation. One by one each ship formed up and began to accelerate into the atmosphere. Three of the ships could be seen in front of the alien ship taking the video. All the ships were in formation and heading in the same direction. The display on the console of the craft began changing rapidly, indicating the video was only being recorded intermittently as the ship traveled in empty space.