by Cliff Ball
Arthur asked to address his people and the knights one last time, and he was given permission to do so. “People of Camelot and Knights of the Round Table, hear me this day. These men are from my home country and they are seeking the Holy Grail. They wish for me to go on a long journey with them to search for it, which will take many, many years. So, for my last official duty as king, I place Sir Lancelot as the new king of Camelot; follow him as you have followed me. Fare thee well Camelot, I wish all of you good and long lives.”
Arthur and Merlin left Camelot with the Terrans. They boarded a shuttle, which took them to a ship in orbit, and the ship headed for Terra. The two men learned that they were in serious trouble for interfering with human affairs, since others wanted to follow Arthur and Merlin’s lead, especially to push humans to advance faster instead of just observing. They were put on trial by a new Oversight for Earth Committee for disobeying the orders for Terrans not to mess with humans by putting themselves in positions to be leaders of the humans. The current leadership of Terra had reversed their decision to interfere a few centuries earlier, saying it would probably backfire on Terra eventually. The two men were found guilty. To make an example of the two, the punishment was that they were put under house arrest for the rest of their natural lives, which could be for another three or four hundred years, they were forbidden to gain any kind of profit from their experiences, and were watched by the authorities, through video and in person, for a very long time.
Chapter Three
For the next few hundred years, the Terrans watched as the barbarian hordes destroyed the remnants of the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine built Constantinople and attempted to keep the Empire going, collaborating with the Roman Church to oppress small Christian sects who didn’t agree with the pope and his followers. Another religion also swept the area, gaining footholds in parts of the former provinces of Rome, such as Spain and Gaul. They were the Muslims, who forced people to worship their god or have their limbs cut off or even be-headed if they didn’t comply. The Church made sure the normal everyday European was illiterate, so they could maintain their power since nobody would be educated enough to question the authority of the Church pope. Europe went through a Dark Age, where no advancements happened, while war after war, religious crusade after religious crusade tore Europe, Africa, and the Middle East apart. It seemed to the Terrans that Earth was descending into chaos again and even into a darker kind of evil than before the Terrans left Earth in the first place.
To make matters a little worse, one of the Terran scientists accidentally introduced a previously unknown contagion on Earth, which turned out to be quite deadly to humans native to Earth. It first infected fleas, then rats, and then the cats and dogs who at the rats, and eventually affected humans as well. The Terrans didn’t know exactly where the epicenter for the outbreak was, but knew that the disease was spreading quickly. It started in Europe and spread along trade routes all the way to Asia, affecting anyone and everyone who came into contact with an infected person. People began calling it the Black Death, because it turned the infected victims’ skin a blackish color. In order to contain this plague, leaders in Europe told their people to stay home and not go anywhere; those orders made matters worse, because some traveled anyway. More people died from contact with other infected people, causing whole villages to die off. Terran scientists quietly worked on a cure for the plague, trying to keep millions more from dying. A year and a half later, the Terrans invented an antidote, and quietly put the antidote in the drinking water and wells all the people of Earth used, taking many months to do so.
In the meantime, Mongolian warriors raided and destroyed towns in China, Manchuria, Korea, and other Asian lands. Since everyone was sick, they had an easier time rampaging, pillaging, and destroying. The leader of the Mongols, Genghis Khan, decided to go further west for more destruction, so he and his warriors traveled to the Middle East. Khan’s men came up against Muslim warriors, led by Saladin, when the Mongols tried to siege Baghdad. Before attacking each other, Khan asked for a truce so both leaders could meet. Thirty minutes later, the two men met on the banks of the Tigris River. They dismissed their aides and when they were alone, Genghis began to talk, “So, we meet again, Sal. I’m surprised the Terran leadership has let us get this far. Are you at all surprised at how easy it is to lead these primitives?”
“So, you’re going with name Genghis? That’s really interesting. I’ve also been wondering about what Terra will do if they figure out who we are. I am amazed how easy it is to lead these people, especially these Muslims. They are very dedicated to their religion, the whole martyrdom thing and seventy-two virgins in their version of heaven. I just tell them that your men are infidels and away they go. How about the men you’re leading?”
“My men are definitely dedicated pillagers. You tell them there’s gold or any kind of money involved, and they’ll gladly tear apart a town or village to get it. Baghdad is ripe for my men to pillage once they kill off all of your men. You know, I’m glad my father was the first to manipulate these primitives, because watching them slaughter each other for nothing is definitely interesting,” remarked Genghis.
That’s right, your dad was Merlin. Didn’t he help another Terran set up a little kingdom of their own in the British Isles?”
“Yes, he and Arthur created Camelot. I’ve heard Earth people talk of it as if it was a myth, a legend created to keep the Vikings from rampaging all over England. When the Terran authorities came for them, then put them under house arrest, it broke my dads’ spirit. He told me of his grand adventures here on Earth, which fascinated me. I wanted to have an adventure on Earth too when I grew up, so here I am, about to attack a bunch of crazy humans. Are you ready for battle, Saladin?”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. If the two of us survive, do you want to meet on the Mars Base and reminisce about old times?”
“Sure, sounds like fun. Well, good luck with your men and their attempt to wipe us out.” they shook hands and went back to their camps.
Saladin and Khan pumped up their men into being full of fury before issuing the order to attack; both sides were ready to kill without mercy. An hour later, the Muslims attacked the Mongols with a fierceness that even Saladin was surprised with. The Mongols fought back with equal ferocity, both sides hacking off arms, legs, and even heads from the men they were fighting against. The battle went back and forth, since there were four hundred and fifty thousand men fighting. The Muslims kept attacking in wave after wave, fighting tooth and nail to kill these Mongol infidels, but they were no match for the Mongols. Twelve hours later, most of Saladin’s warriors were dead, while the few who remained would run away to fight again some other day. The countryside was littered with limbs, heads, limbless and headless torsos, and the countryside seemed to be soaked with blood. The Mongols, of those who had survived the battle, sacked and looted Baghdad, then burned it to the ground. They then turned north, towards the Russian Empire to see what riches that land held. Saladin and Genghis met weeks later on Mars, and reminisced about old times, talked politics, and discussed their family lives.
A few years later, Genghis Khan re-invented himself and used his own name, Marco Polo. He went to Europe, from China, using the Silk Road route; he wanted to convince the Europeans that China still existed, especially since he tried so hard in the past to help destroy some of it. This being the Dark Ages in Europe, there had been no official contact with China since before the fall of the Roman Empire. Polo went to Rome to show the people in charge, which would be the Roman Church, what kind of products China produced so a trade route could be officially re-opened between Europe and Asia. Polo was ushered in to see the Pope, who seemed to be issuing orders to some priests and soldiers about keeping the Germanies from thumbing their collective noses at the Church.
After twenty minutes of berating his priests and soldiers, the Pope noticed Polo, dismissed the priests and soldiers, and asked, “Welcome, my son, what can I help you with?”
/>
Polo, who had no use for this Church version of Christianity, responded with, “I don’t think you can help me with anything. However, I believe I can help you establish ties with China and re-establish an official trade route with them. This could possibly help Europe come out of this Dark Age it finds itself in.”
“Now, why would I want to trade with heathens? Europe is fine under my leadership, why would I want anything to change? Are you sure you don’t need my blessings or confess some sin you’re holding in?”
“If I did need to confess a sin, I would go directly in prayer to God, not use some egomaniacal, power hungry, sinful human to intercede for me. Since it’s obvious you don’t want your people to become educated and literate, which would cause them to question your authority, we’re finished here. Thank you for your time, sir.” Polo left in disgust, and then decided to leave Earth for good, hoping someday Earth would not have such a backward people.
In the meantime, a team of archeologists returned to Terra to discuss what they found on Earth. Speaking in front of an assembly full of scientists, historians, archeologists, and a few representatives of the government, the head of the team, Tom Lomanco, who was the great, great grandson of the first Terran to return to Earth, began speaking, “Years ago, we were sent to study Earth’s history post-flood. We found that the way Earth is now, as far as having seven continents are concerned, came into being around the time the waters apparently receded, some of which froze, putting Earth into an ice age, which they are still going through to some degree. The continents separated between the time we left and returned. We’ve also heard some rumors of a lost continent with lost humans, that some on Earth have been referring to as Atlantis, so we naturally assumed those rumors refer to the original Terrans who left Earth all those years ago.
“So we started investigating the lost continent theory, going also to the original coordinates the ancestors had recorded as their homeland. The coordinates brought us to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where there are no islands or major landforms anywhere in sight. Most of the rumors have this lost continent as being either in the Indian Ocean or off of the coast of Africa in the Atlantic, but we know that’s not the case. With continental drift, it was assumed that our former land may have merged with Asia or broke up into tinier islands scattered all over the ocean, so we called for a detailed orbital scan of Earth’s surface. Once the scan was complete, our team was sent the report of what the scan contained, and we found that a city is most definitely at the bottom of the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. Now, our ancestors lived on a two hundred square mile island, most of which was city, so we’re certain that it is the so-called lost continent. I’m calling for a deep-sea expedition to investigate what we can about what the last days were like for those left behind. Now, as for our other findings, there is much to discuss.”
Lomanco went on to describe what his team discovered on the rest of Earth and its history of civilization. The Terran Science Academy authorized an expedition to the sunken Terra City; they were to find out what happened to the rest of the left behind Terrans and recover anything of value. A deep ocean submarine was shipped to Earth, and placed in the waters above the lost city. The Terrans made sure none of the nearer islands with inhabitants, who were thousands of miles away, had boats traveling in their direction; otherwise this plan would not work. The Terrans also built a portable science lab on the water to process any findings by the submarine and then relay the information to the science community as a whole.
The Terrans spent over a year cataloging everything on the bottom of the ocean, and brought up equipment and computers from the sunken city that the Terrans had used to build their space program and the generation starship. When they discovered that, in spite of being underwater all those centuries, the computers still worked, the Terrans were ecstatic. Once everything dried out, computer technicians accessed the data stored on the hard drives, then uploaded and stored that data to Terra’s massive supercomputer, so all data could be analyzed. According to the Terrans of ancient Earth who made entries into their computers, a massive wave that could be seen for miles, approached Terra City as the rains began to fall and as the last rocket was blasting off. The wave hit with massive force according to data recorded by instruments in Terra City and killed the remaining inhabitants instantly. A video, found a few months later by recovery teams, showed the panic of the Terrans who witnessed the wave, and for a short time, recorded the devastation to the city. The recovery teams submitted their findings to the government, who informed the people of Terra about what was found. To make sure humans never found Terra City, the Terrans nuked the site, effectively destroying what was left of Terra’s original history on Earth. Someday, if Earth ever developed the means to travel underwater, the only remnant left would be odd radiation readings where none was supposed to be.
Chapter Four
A few years later, a renaissance occurred in Europe, people were becoming interested in art, music, and exploring the world around them. Some Terrans began pushing certain people along to get them to make great discoveries; one of the humans they decided to help was Michelangelo, who was an artist employed by the Roman Church. Michelangelo seemed interested in a technology never before seen by the current inhabitants of Earth, flying machines. His ideas, for the time, were really radical and put him on the verge of being declared a heretic by the Church. Michelangelo was constantly drawing plans for his machines, even as he was painting the Sistine Chapel, which drew the attention of a Terran who admired the painting that was in progress. He was Galileo Galilei, who was a prominent astronomer on Terra and soon to be on Earth.
Galileo, when he had arrived on Earth ten years before, set about establishing and making his name known so the humans in power would listen to him. Galileo kept insisting to the Earth authorities that the planet revolved around the sun, not everything in the universe revolves around the Earth; which he thought was just as ridiculous as claiming Earth was flat. He even let priests, kings, dukes, and anyone else in power look into his crude, Earth-made telescopes to prove what they claimed was false theories. While he was dealing with these annoying politicians, Galileo came across Michelangelo’s work on the mechanics of flying machines, which showed a lot of progress for such a primitive. Michelangelo was working on a glider when Galileo showed up in his workshop, so an annoyed Michelangelo asked, “Can I help you?”
“Good afternoon, Michelangelo. I’m here because I believe I can help you with your attempts at flying. What do you require to move it along?”
“What do I require, you ask? I require a patron who will supply the means for me to build a contraption such as the one I have drawn. Do you have the means, sir?”
“Yes, indeed I do. I can supply you with whatever materials you require, money is no object. However, are you nearly finished with the Sistine Chapel painting?” inquired Galileo.
“I am almost done, no thanks to those idiots at the Vatican. They kept insisting that they have a say in how I drew and painted the masterpiece. I told them that I would not do it unless I had complete control, even if they threatened me with ex-communication and then labeled me as a heretic. They relented, and now I’m touching up what’s left; it should be finished in a few days.” boasted Michelangelo.
“I understand the trouble you’re going through, I have had problems myself. Well, Michelangelo, once you’re finished, please let me know through the various channels of communication and we’ll start on the next project.”
A week later, Michelangelo finished his Sistine Chapel masterpiece to much fanfare by the Church. The Pope praised Michelangelo as a great servant of God, and insisted that the artist create something else, a statue to King David. Michelangelo said he would work on the drawings for the statue, but he had another project he promised to start and wanted to get it done right away. A messenger was sent to Galileo to inform him that Michelangelo was ready to begin, and they met two hours later. They sat down to talk in Michelangelo’s workshop, and
Galileo asked, “What kind of materials do you need to construct this glider?”
“I need canvas for the wings and wood for the supports. I was thinking of iron for the harness area so I can fly it and direct the glider to where it should go. Here, I’ll show you my plans,” Michelangelo laid out his plans for the glider on a table and showed Galileo how he wanted to construct the glider; Michelangelo then asked, “do you think this will work?”
“We won’t know until we try, and the only way to know is to build it. Let’s get to work.”
Galileo wasn’t entirely sure the materials that Michelangelo wanted to use, would work. Galileo know the Terran authorities were watching him, since he was someone with a high profile, so he didn’t want to incur their wrath by giving Michelangelo more advanced materials or an even better designed plan for a glider, So, he helped the artist to encourage him and other humans to push the boundaries of known science on Earth. At the same time, Galileo was trying the patience of the Church with his heretical ideas about how the universe actually worked, but he figured someone needed to question established thinking, or nothing would get done. He supposed he could just go to China, who were accomplished astronomers and knew Earth orbited the sun, but they would not trust him. So, he decided to stay in Italy, hoping that someday a human would listen.
Michelangelo and Galileo worked on the glider for weeks on end in the workshop, attempting to use materials currently available on Earth, without using technology from Terra. Galileo sometimes wondered just how on terra Michelangelo came up with his plans, because the human seemed somewhat confused on how to build the glider, as if he hadn’t actually come up with this creation. Galileo let it go though, since inventing anything new would confuse anyone. The glider took five months to build, since some of the parts had to be made by hand. When it was ready, Michelangelo announced to the powers-that-be, that he wanted to show them his new invention.
