The scientific ship Science and the battlecruiser Star Hunter followed in the mishap of the fugitives. When they reached the Canis Major constellation, they activated again the prototype of the gravitational field-forming weapon, to open a path for the terrestrial solar system. This way, they found out that the alignment formed between the gravitational fields of binary stars and the gravitational field of the terrestrial solar system was in fact favorable to the creation of a wormhole.
"Drako, open the way and trace the course to the past of planet Earth. Can you track Genesis spacecraft?" Merko asked, staring at the holographic navigation images. "The problem is that I have no idea of the time and place to which that insane Mirov went."
"Don't worry, sir, I can handle this. When you were talking to Counselor Kenan about Mirov's intentions, I was able to retrieve the personal files he had deleted and found some maps with the routes he planned to make. I can assure you that I know exactly where that madman is."
"You surprised me again, Drako! Then trace the coordinates and let's follow him."
"Yes, Commander Merko."
Drako used the gravitational weapon that the engineers had installed on the ship and distorted the space-time, following the coordinates of the map planned by Mirov. Finally, they arrived at the terrestrial solar system, but some years after Mirov's passage, due to some distortion of the calculation that he had made with the coordinates.
On the Earth they found, the forests were already developed and occupied almost all the soil of the planet. Giant beasts walked and ran on the surface: dinosaurs had dominated the ecosystem. Mirov had put them there and had reached his goal.
As soon as the Commander arrived at the command room, Sivoc informed him:
"Merko, unfortunately, we've arrived much after Mirov and the dinosaurs already dominate the Earth. In a few dozens of years, the human ancestors will be totally decimated. They will be hunted as insects by the creatures until their total extinction."
"Z8, evaluate the terrestrial ecosystem and tell us what year we're in" Merko ordered, determined to take some action to save the human species.
"That bastard Mirov. He wants power no matter how... He will decimate the whole human race, including us, on mere whim."
After a few moments, the ship's central computer answered:
"Sir, if we put the 21st century, that is, the time you were living on this planet as the time frame, we are about 65 million years ago."
Everyone was at the Science's central table and stared at each other, thinking of a solution. It was Merko who broke the silence:
"I have an idea!" He shouted excitedly, making all eyes turn toward him. "Once, my friend Silion and I diverted a meteor from our planet with the laser weapons of your ship, thus saving all of us from an impact that would annihilate us. Upon reminding this I thought: Why can't we repeat the feat here, but doing the opposite? Thus, we can use the laser weapons of our ships to deflect the trajectory of a great meteor, and to finish once and for all with these dinosaurs."
"What a great idea, my friend Merko. We can use the laser beams of our two ships, further increasing the possibility of success. With accurate shots tangent to the meteor, we can accurately calculate the location of its fall!" Sivoc added.
Zara and Nicholas looked at each other. Telepathically they began to talk:
"I think that's crazy. Besides being a difficult task to accomplish, it can also end all life and perhaps the planet itself. A small deviation in the asteroid's trajectory can cause a fatal explosion," said Nicholas, startled.
"Don't forget that Merko is very experienced and has already made memorable achievements. Don't doubt his ability," Zara replied, trying to calm him down.
"I know he's smart. But I keep thinking about our daughter, my mother, Sophia... Any mistake and everything is extinguished."
"Everything, including us."
Merko only watched the conversation between Nicholas and Zara, but didn't interfere. He preferred to concentrate on plotting along with the others to search for a meteor that was large enough to cause such massive destruction of the giant reptiles but wouldn't destroy the planet. An equation difficult to solve.
But if it worked, it would open space for the evolution of mammal primates and would allow the Homo sapiens species to appear on the planet in the future.
"Drako, I want you to calculate with the engineers how to make our strategy perfect. It involves the most important thing in the Universe - the life of mankind."
"Yes, Merko. I'll meet them now."
After a few hours, Drako came back and exposed a hologram with the plans he drew with the experts:
"The meteor will have to fall exactly at this point on the planet for its effects to be effective."
He pointed to the region that corresponded to the Gulf of Mexico. He showed them that the Ice Age would dominate the planet after the great meteor struck it; a dense layer of dust would prevent the sun's rays from reaching the planet. Therefore, the average temperature would be reduced, enough to extinguish almost all life. The beings that possessed the fattest in their organism would be the ones with the greatest chance of survival.
"And bingo! Goodbye, dinosaurs," Drako concluded.
"Your stratagem is spectacular, my friend," Sivoc said excitedly.
Merko and Sivoc prepared their ships to travel a little more. They would go to the meteorite belt, which was located between Mars and Jupiter, a region abundant in celestial bodies. They resolved to divert one of them, about 9 miles in diameter into Jupiter's orbit, in order to increase its velocity and change the trajectory, hurling it toward Earth.
"Merko, I think this idea of diverting the meteor is very risky. We could destroy the whole planet!" Sivoc said anguished, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"We have no choice. If the human beings don't develop, there will be no future for all of us and for those we love," said Captain Merko with conviction.
When a difficult decision had to be made, Merko was the right man for it. He didn't escape danger and responsibility. He was a true hero.
The ships lined up in the correct position, after identifying the perfect meteor for the attempt. They named it Hercules.
"Sivoc, confirm that everyone's ready to activate the weapons at my command."
"Yes, Commander Merko. The target is in sight."
"Let's synchronize the weapons of the two ships. When I order, shoot."
"Done, sir."
"Coordinates nine, three, eight, zero," Drako confirmed.
Merko raged from within his command bridge, where Zara and Nicholas watched, attentively, through the hatch, Hercules traveling through space with its colossal size.
"Fire!"
They pointed their laser beams to the asteroid and managed to redirect it to the giant Jupiter. The meteor began to change direction and entered the orbit of the largest planet in the solar system in order to accelerate the speed of its trajectory. The great meteor gained strength and impulse as it was launched into the planet's orbit. Then the ships launched their laser beams once more, directing it to Earth.
"Commander Merko, the calculation of Hercules' new trajectory is accurate. In a few hours it will hit the planet," Drako said.
"Very well. I suggest that we don't stay here, because the energy release will be enormous and could reach us."
The gravity weapon was reused to re-create the space-time passage and the ships entered the rift. In a few hours they were back to the star system of the hunter Orion, close to Sirius. Then, the interstellar travelers would monitor Hercules' effects and the consequences of their mission. Now they would have to study the ways traveled by Mirov and understand his next steps.
Hercules appeared with all his power, falling exactly where Drako and the engineers had calculated. The planet went dark and the Sun seemed to be covered by the dust cloud raised with the impact. The animals that survived the big blast looked at the change of weather with a bad feeling. That was the time when ice would take over the planet and food would be scarce. At that time, death was life's companion.
With this tactic, Merko, Nicholas and their friends had prevented the extinction of the human race and interfered in the Machiavellian Mirov's plans once again.
***
While the ships were stationed in the Orion Constellation, the galactic travelers followed the unfolding of the facts.
Nicholas was with Zara in their chambers, and they were both looking out the hatch when the Terran started to say, worried:
"Is our daughter safe?"
"I think so... But we'll only know for sure when we go back home. Thanks to everyone's courage, it was possible to give human life a chance on Earth, and that's what we have to seize. In this world there are difficult and even impossible things to explain. I can say that I'm very happy to know that in the future there is hope for our daughter to grow. Living with you and my daughter on this planet is all that matters to me," Zara replied, a tear dropping from her eyes as she remembered Helen.
"You are quite right, my love," said Nicholas, bringing her to him and giving her a hug.
It was no use to despair. They both knew that only time would give an answer to those longings.
Under the conditions the terrestrial ecosystem was, the forests were destroyed in a short time, compromising the food chain. The dinosaurs who survived the meteoric catastrophe ended up dying of food shortage. The gap for the development of human ancestors opened and the mammal primates and their relatives continued to reproduce, giving rise to the later emergence of the Australopithecus, the ancestors of Homo sapiens.
After they had returned through the space-time fold and were safe next to Sirius's binary system, commanders Merko and Sivoc evaluated the mission and concluded that they had been successful. Inside the battlecruiser Star Hunter and the scientific ship Science, everyone celebrated the outcome of the mission.
Drako, along with Tibor, went ahead with Science ship clearing the way for the Star Hunter spacecraft, where were Merko, Sivoc, Crom, Zara and Nicholas who, on the command room's bridge, were preparing for the future clash with Mirov when they discovered his position.
"I told you that Merko was capable of accomplishing this mission. He's the best commander of the entire star fleet," Zara told Nicholas with a shine in her eyes, excited by the success achieved.
"I have to admit that deflecting that asteroid was a feat!" He nodded relieved.
The crews of both ships congratulated Captain Merko and all those who participated in the adventure. Humanity had been saved, but for how long?
If Mirov was free, there would be no peace. They needed to find him, and inside one of the ships they plotted a new plan to capture the villain. But there was another problem. Nicholas questioned them:
"The dinosaurs that would prevent the development of humanity were destroyed, but what about the embryos of the planet Life's beings that were taken from the scientific laboratory? What does Mirov intend to do with them?"
"We believe that he wants to establish a new population on Earth with the evolved beings of the planet Life. After he destroyed the ancestors of humans, he would use the cloned embryos to populate the planet and, uniting his knowledge and technology, could become the supreme ruler of planet Earth" said Sivoc.
"A brilliant conclusion, my friend Sivoc," said Captain Merko.
"This is an urgent situation, because upon discovering that the human population hasn't been decimated, he can try to extinguish it by other means, such as lethal viruses, weapons of mass destruction or something similar," replied Nicholas, with wide eyes out of concern.
"From the cursed Mirov we can expect any idea," Tibor commented.
"He's dangerous, we can't underestimate him," Merko said apprehensively.
Zara interrupted the conversation, because she had been keeping a secret for a long time. Something she hadn't told anyone since the last time she had dealt with Mirov's madness, when he tried to assassinate the Princess. She felt it was the right time to reveal it:
"I need to tell you something very important. I'm sure everyone will be surprised..."
Everyone looked at her, not having any idea of what she would say.
Her breath was puffy, for she didn't know what everyone's reaction would be to her revelation. The beautiful extraterrestrial, although tense, began to tell them:
"When we were on planet Life more than ten years ago and saved the Princess's life, I visited the cryogenic laboratory to check out the samples of Nicholas we collected and stored. There are many samples of humans from the past kept there to preserve the genetic memory of our people, as everyone knows. But when I checked the chromosome material in the system lists, I discovered there an atypical genetic material, because it was from the planet Life's evolved human beings. At the time, I thought: what is the reason for someone to store biological material from beings from our own planet, since they could request or remove it from any of our hospitals or laboratories? I was suspicious and asked the genetic scientists who was the responsible. They told me that the order was from Counselor Mirov himself. When Mirov's entire plan was discovered and he was eventually arrested, that material could have even gone unnoticed, but not by me."
Everyone paid attention and she continued to speak:
"He didn't think anyone would pay attention to those samples, but I felt that he had some pretty shady end for that. So, when the activities of the Scientific Building ended that night, I went to the laboratory where the genetic materials of the Homo sapiens and their ancestors, the Australopithecus, were kept. I separated the latter ones and switched them for those Mirov had had labelled. I thought that, by deceiving him, I'd somehow sabotage his plans, whatever they were; that if he wanted to dominate other worlds and wanted, perhaps, to create his own civilizations, he would begin with the Australopithecus. It would be a good start for humans to mark their presence in the Universe... I think I got it right."
"But how could you switch the embryos without being seen?" Merko asked.
"As a geneticist doctor and space researcher, I have free access to the lab. Besides, I asked Drako's help to turn off the security cameras so that no one could see the exchange."
"If Drako's into it, I'm sure nobody saw her." Sivoc said, smiling.
They all looked at each other smiling, too, as she continued:
"The embryos he's now taking in Genesis ship are those we used to keep the Australopithecus genome intact for the purpose of evolutionary studies, including for DNA mapping and disease cure."
"Why didn't you tell us this before?"
"I kept this secret because I didn't know what Mirov's plans were. Now we know, indeed. Moreover, back on planet Life, there was the chance to have Mirov's spies infiltrated even on the Royal Council. Sometimes silence is a weapon and the size of the wound depends on the moment the blow is released. I think by now the tyrant must have already felt the wound that my secret caused him."
The young Earthman looked at her, understanding her reasons, and Zara noticed, reading his thoughts. She knew he didn't like lies and wanted to convince him, above all, about her motivation. An untold truth is not a lie, but it may be a weapon, as Zara had said.
"I didn't hide it from you out of simple carelessness. Nor was I certain of that worm's true intentions. I only hope Mirov's geneticists use the genetic material without examining it. As the storage containers are hermetically sealed and the embryos cryogenically stored, any unnecessary manipulation can put everything to waste. I believe that luck will be on our side and they will use it directly on planet Earth."
"Zara, that was genial of you! Mirov's plan was to sow the embryos of the planet Life's inhabitants on other planets. This time, he's using it as a kind of revenge and will begin on planet Earth, but if his plan works out, he'll be able to dominate other planets as well," Sivoc said.
Captain Merko nodded, understanding that Zara had done the right thing.
Nicholas was once again astonished at the intelligent woman he had chosen to be his wife. Then he thought it over and remembered that she was the one who had chosen him.
That didn't matter anymore. What he wanted was to have Zara at his side and he knew he would give his life for her. Nicholas loved her more and more, even more so now that her gesture could save humanity from destruction and increase hope for the perpetuation of civilization.
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