The Song of Eternity
Canto 4 : Earth
Verse 1
Uncovering the Past
A skeptic,
Told to uncover the truth of the past,
Begins his journey.
A man sits alone in a sparsely decorated room. In front of him is a tape recorder. He presses down the record button and starts to talk. "November 17th, 2085, Veritas Project, day one, Earth Force, Major Marcus Boyd speaking. As instructed, I will go over the events of my day upon my arrival here at Section 3 in what was once northern Canada," he spoke evenly as he closed his eyes and let the day's events replay before his eyes.
The helicopter landed at the airstrip at Section 3. The pilot waved at Maj. Boyd before he lifted off, wishing him good luck at his new job. Boyd headed to the one visible entrance to the vast underground area that was Section 3, a long bunker with one door, guarded by two guards with pulse rifles. He was stopped as the guards checked his papers against theirs'. Satisfied that the black haired, late-twenties man in front of them was who he said he was and had clearance, they entered a numerical password simultaneously on separate keypads and pushed the doors open for Boyd.
A man in his mid-twenties in fatigues was sitting inside the entrance. He looked up casually, then got up to greet Boyd. Boyd saluted the second the man, a Colonel, got up. The Colonel saluted back and spoke. "Probably should have told you in your orders, but around here, you are at ease unless you are guarding something or I tell you otherwise."
"Colonel Zack Hartnett, I presume?" Boyd asked the man as he glanced at the name tag to confirm.
"Just Zack, unless their happens to be another Colonel or higher around," he laughed. "Give me that bag, it's a long walk to your quarters," he ordered, taking one of the two large duffel bags from the Major. "Let's go, we'll go drop this off, then I'll show you the ropes," Zack ordered as he walked to the center of the bunker where a dozen men with pulse rifles were guarding an elevator.
The men saluted and opened the doors for them. Once they were inside Zack continued talking to Marcus. "So this is Section 3. What do you know about what we do here, official and unofficial?" Zack asked, always amused by the responses he got from new officers.
"Officially, you are listed as a weapon development site. Which must not be true, since I have no experience with design at all. Unofficially it is rumored that you are fighting a war out here against the remains of Alpha's army," he explained to the higher ranking, but younger officer. "Also they say the commander here is a little bit eccentric."
"No time to pull punches here. They say I'm insane," Zack laughed as the elevator stopped and he led Marcus down a hallway. "You're right, about our official business, but the unofficial is only half right. We have been monitoring a conflict here for the past five years. The remains of Alpha's army have been battling a man who we must assume is Travis Starmore several miles outside our base for half a decade. We have been observing, making sure none of Alpha's forces get by him." They continued to move through the submarine-like bowels of the base for another minute before Zack continued. "But if it is Starmore, that means a 90 plus year old man is out there doing our job for us. In any event, your mission is to prepare a detailed report of what actually happened, the events surrounding Travis Starmore and World War 3. We have had copies of many documents and pictures from a decade before and after the war brought here to help you in your research. You will also have class 9 access to all Earth computer records."
"Class 9?" Marcus asked, making sure he heard correctly.
"Yup, you get to see all but the very worst government secrets from the last hundred years," Zack laughed. "If you attempt to access any class 10 files, you will be shot on sight. This is not a joke, I have class 10 and your computer use will be monitored for accessing restricted areas," Zack said seriously. They finally stopped walking at an unmarked door. "You need to retina scan to get in," Zack gestured at the device beside the door.
Marcus looked into the device, and the door opened, recognizing his retina. They entered the room, dropping the bags on the lone bed. "This is your place, you have your own bathroom, there's some sheets and blankets in the closet," he gestured. "Any questions?"
"Not about the accommodations," Marcus said.
"Fine, ask me as I show you the Mess Hall," Zack said as they left the room and headed down the hallway.
"What am I supposed to research? Everyone knows the legend of what happened," Marcus pointed out.
"Yes, they all know the legend that he came out of nowhere to stop Alpha WEAPON and saved the Earth in process. But you are to find the truth. Where he was, how he had the power to stop the WEAPON, why he is not dead, and where he has been the last seventy-odd years. The higher ups are very uneasy about the situation going on outside this bunker," Zack explained.
They came to the Mess Hall, where Zack introduced him to several officers sitting together. "Major Marcus Boyd, meet Captain Elena Toskavich, First Lieutenant Joshua Cole, and Tech Sergeant Erik Swanson. They will be working with you on the project and will take over showing you the rest of the base. I look forward to results, Major," Zack said as he left the Mess Hall.
"Are you hungry?" Elena asked in a thick Russian accent.
"No thanks, I had some food on the helicopter. So do you three work here, or did you just get here like me?" Marcus asked the three of them.
"Oh, we work here. Good old Section 3, the most secret place on the planet," Erik said laughingly.
"If it's so secret, what's with all the lax attitude?" Marcus asked.
"Just to take everyone's mind off the current situation going on above us. They actually do the weapons research that they say they do, down on the bottom floor. No one ever tries to get in here though, there's barely anyone left on this rock to begin with. No one wants to come to the middle of a desert to try to steal a weapon, there's no way to get out with it," Cole explained.
"Colonel Hartnett had us relocated closer to your room so you don't get lost. They are off duty today. I will show you the computer lab, file room, and recreation hall now," Elena said with her Russian accent.
A couple hours later he said goodbye to Elena and entered his room. He spotted a package with a note on it on his desk. He read the paper to himself. You are to document your work each day and drop it off to me in my office. I will then forward it to Earth Force Command. Enclosed is a tape recorder and a dozen tapes. –Colonel Hartnett. He sighed and opened the box to archive his day.
"And here I am. Working in Section 3, digging around in the past, trying to find the truth about an event that happened seventy years ago. The Colonel is a bit odd. It seems strange that he is as young as he is and is in charge. I'll see if the others know what the deal is. Other than that, supposing I don't get shot or killed by whatever is happening above ground, I guess I'll get to work tomorrow," he finished as he clicked off the tape and unpacked his things, preparing for sleep.