by Eurostar
"Now that you know each other, it's time to explain what your mission will be," said Meta 7, sitting in his seat. "First, my name. Meta 7 is obviously a nickname. To be more specific, it is a title of sorts. I am the seventh chairman of the United Nations Board of Metahumans, a self-regulatory board set up shortly after World War II as an NGO. The Meta Board, made up of ordinary bureaucrats and metahuman heroes alike, keeps track of all known metahumans and has provided some funding for various metahero teams over the years.
"The Meta Board was based on an earlier U.S. regulatory agency created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s that kept track of all the metahumans of the time, then called mystery men. In 1940, after the war broke out in Europe, FDR requested the board to form a team of mystery men that could be called upon whenever the nation was at risk. Thus was born the Mysterymen Board Society, or the MBS. Probably only Rhyme Guardian and the Trout remember those days.
"The rest of you might be old enough to remember me from my pre-bureaucratic days in the late '80s and early '90s, when I was the hero known as Kohoutek. I was born in 1967, and as a six-year-old boy in 1973, the comet Kohoutek granted me powers. That was where I originally got my name, but it was also mentioned in a 1985 song by R.E.M. released before my debut in 1986, and that song confirmed it. I was one of the founders of the Metahero League of America, which was active from 1987 to 1992, when we disbanded. It was then that I took up the role of Meta Board chairman and changed my name to Meta 7.
"Also, I'm obscenely rich, and I'm a collector. I have no joy in collecting objects of art, so as a hobby after my metahero retirement I began collecting alien artifacts. Down in the lower level of this building I have the saucer that was in Area 51, complete with the alien corpses left in it. I also have alien paraphernalia from several archaeological areas around the world... Peru, Mexico, Egypt... many things from these places. And all point to a specific location: the Antarctic.
"You see, twenty thousand years ago, the Earth's rotation was not the same -- it was inclined differently than it is now. Hell, it wasn't inclined at all. The poles were in different places, and while Europe and North America were under glaciers, part of the continent of Antarctica was free from ice. And there, over a millennium, developed a civilization: Atlantis.
"Twelve thousand years ago, the civilization was ended by the fall of something the ancient chronicles of Atlantis call the little moon. The Russian scientists who discovered the Atlantis chronicles in 1990 believe it to have been an asteroid, but my sources tell a different story. It was a starship -- a huge, spherical starship the size of Mount Everest and five miles in diameter. And, since it probably used a force field, the ship should be undamaged, even if buried under the ice shelf.
"The crash of the ship on our planet began to shift the rotation of the Earth, and the poles were relocated where they are today. As the ice left Europe and America, it covered the Antarctic, ending the civilization of Atlantis and hiding the starship. Your mission is to reach the buried ship and pilot it outside our atmosphere, landing it on the Moon and disabling it there to keep it from being discovered and used against the Earth. Over the location of the starship, a Russian-American expedition is now trying to drill some samples from what they think is a huge meteorite. But I have reason to believe that someone involved in that expedition knows of the starship and wants it to gain power.
"Accomplishing the mission, you will have rewards that you wouldn't even dream of asking for. You, Rhymer, will have all the funds you'd ever need to start the foundation for homeless people you dream of. You, Mark Harris, will have a cure for your dying son. You, Sente, will have your life. You, Invisible Man, will have what you asked -- the authentic Mona Lisa. After all, I told you I don't enjoy art any more, so I will be pleased that someone able to understand the value of that picture will own it. And you, Exile... you can read my mind. I will grant you that one thing you want more than anything.
"The Invisible Man will quickly disable the members of the expedition, without killing them, of course. Nobody should know what hit them. Then Spark will open an ice shaft to the alien starship. Down there, you will find a underground lake of warm water around the ship. The Trout is the only one who could easily explore the surface of the ship to find the gates. Exile will link your minds to talk through water and ice. Then Spark will create a tube out of ice to reach the gates. And Sente, who is actually a cyborg, will interface with the ship and open the gate, then pilot it outside the atmosphere and place it on the Moon, where it will cease to be a threat to Earth.
"To accomplish this mission, I've provided all of you with custom-fit clothing and gear for the cold Antarctica weather. As well, in the level directly beneath this missing room, accessible by an elevator in the corner, is a miniature vehicle that can glide over the surface as well as act as a submarine. I call it the Jet, and you will use it to reach the underground lake and enter the starship. Is everything clear?"
"Hey, what's my part?" asked Rhyme Guardian.
"You will have to ignite the sub-nuclear reaction that powers the ship. Only you, with your rhyme energy, can do that," explained Meta 7. "You can also recharge the batteries of the Jet with that energy."
"I don't understand why Sente's death-vision should be helpful," said the Trout.
"Well, it is possible that there are aliens in suspended animation -- deadly aliens, reptilian ones known as the Basilisk. The demonic races, as they are known," explained Meta 7.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Exile.
"Nothing. In fact, this palace is really my advanced aircraft, and you are currently flying at Mach 3 toward Antarctica. Good work. And, uh, obviously I am not really here. This is only a hologram, and this is also not my real face. Bye!" said the figure of Meta 7, disappearing.
"I knew that," said Exile.
In the nearby room, Marvino and Vendia, who could hear the meeting by means of glass cups pressed over the wall, suddenly ran to the windows. Below the palace, they saw the endless expanse of the Sahara passing at an incredible speed.