Chapter 13

Ben spent long hours trying to explain to Simeone what life had been like growing up on the planet. The only details he kept hidden were about the discovery and use of the powerful metal nuggets.

Simeone suspected that Ben was leaving some things out, as his explanations often had gaps in them. Things 'just happened' or there was a leap from one event to another with no logical progression.

At least the reason why the people were so aggressive was becoming clearer. Simeone could see that their very survival had depended upon them learning to adapt and respond to what they faced. Over time that meant they had grown to be very different from the people on Woden.

The mystery about the rapid progress that had been made was also at least partially explained. Simeone could see that the discovery of the pod that had malfunctioned had been a huge stroke of good fortune, but the twins had been ingenious in exploiting their luck. The production of the drones also explained a lot — they had compensated for the lack of available manpower — but still something nagged at the back of Simeone's mind.

"Resources! All of my adult life has been about seeding planets because of Woden's dire need for resources. How did these youngsters ever manage to gather sufficient resources to feed their replicators? How did they find the minerals and ores? Ben isn't telling me everything, I suspect. There's more, there must be.

"He still hasn't explained why that other group think he's God either. What's that all about? It's obvious that he doesn't fully trust me, but then, who could blame him for that?"

"What is the commander of the other ship likely to do?" Ben asked.

Simeone thought about the question for a few moments before answering.

"The Scout class of ship is the biggest that Woden produces. He's got about four hundred crew that he can use. None of our ships is heavily armed though, so he hasn't got anything that he could fire at you from the ship for instance.

"If it wasn't for the fact that the pilot of the harvest ship is down here on the planet somewhere, he would probably just use his tractor beam to suck you all into space and let you suffocate.

"With the pilot down here, he'll have to make an attempt to rescue him before he can deal with the rest of you. That means he'll send down a force armed with personal weapons I think."

"A ship that size doesn't have any missiles or other heavy armament? That sounds bizarre. How do you defend yourselves?" Ben asked.

"Woden is so advanced that we find there's been little need to defend ourselves. In all our travels around the galaxies, we've never come across any other civilisations that are anywhere close to being as technologically advanced as we are. Fundamentally, Wodenites are peaceful. We see no need for violence. The order to remove everyone from this planet so that it could be harvested must have been borne out of desperation."

"But what about the Zytol? Isn't Woden at war with them now? How will your people defend themselves?" Ben asked.

Simeone frowned at the reminder that his planet was under attack.

"Yes, I see what you mean. Perhaps we've been too complacent. When I got the message telling me that we were at war, it took a little time for it to sink in. Things can't be going well — the need for this planet's resources is one indication of that. I'm sure we'll be fine though, the Zytol are not that advanced and our superior technology will ensure we win the day. There's not many of them either - things will be back to normal soon, you'll see."

Ben could see that Simeone was serious. It appeared as if the Wodenites had lived through generation after generation without any serious conflict. It was almost as if they didn't have the capacity to think about what a determined and aggressive enemy could do to them. He wasn't so sure that things would be as fine as Simeone believed.

The force from the WS Scout was sitting around resting. The spot where the shuttle had landed was really quite pleasant and it was something of a novelty for the crew to be off ship and actually out in the open air.

Lieutenant Beegs was using his communications unit to report back to the ship.

"There's no sign of the pilot and no message either, Captain. No signs of any struggle though. In fact, no tracks of any kind around the shuttle. It's almost as if he's vanished into thin air. I'm guessing he's been tele-ported somewhere. Should I continue looking for him?"

"You need to do everything you can to find him. He's most likely joined one of the groups of people down there so you're going to have to make contact with them. The nearest one is also the biggest, so be careful. I'll have the AI tele-port you all as close as I dare," replied Captain Marlon.

"Aye, aye, Sir."

Beegs ordered his squad commanders to have the men ready themselves to be tele-ported.

"Impress upon your men that they need to be alert. These people have already shown their willingness to kill, so we should have weapons at the ready before we transfer. I want to be ready for anything. Is that understood?"

A chorus of affirmatives and some nervous looks told him that he had got his message across.

"We'll do it squad by squad in numeric order."

Beegs used his communications unit again to coordinate with the artificial intelligence on the ship and in short order all ten squads had been tele-ported to a point just east of the caves.

The men were extremely nervous. Sure they had been trained, but Wodenites didn't fight and they had never been in a situation like this before. Pulse rifles were held in sweaty hands and adrenaline was running high.

David wandered alone in the hot, dusty hills to the north of where he had built his settlement. He had used a hover vehicle to drive to the foot of the hills and then decided he would much rather walk. Driving took too much of his concentration and what he really wanted was to be free to think about what was troubling him.

With his mind on his disagreement with God, he paid little attention to where he was walking and before long he was completely lost. Now he was simply wandering around in circles.

He had been without sleep, food or water for two days and the heat and exhaustion were getting to him. The ground was so hot it was shimmering and David was starting to see things that weren't there.

"Why have you deserted me Lord? Why have you decided to abandon me after all this time?" he croaked through parched and cracked lips.

David couldn't understand why God was so angry at the death of the Stellarites. To David it was a clear cut case of kill or be killed, yet God had ordered him not to attack the other tribe.

The same thoughts went round and round and he knew he was getting nowhere — both mentally and physically. He realised he was becoming delirious, but by then it was too late — the heat, the lack of water, the hunger, the tiredness — all became too much and he simply collapsed on the dusty hillside.

Hannah had decided the time had come to put her plan into action. Ben had introduced Simeone to her and then to Kadesh and from their discussions she found out that a Woden ship had arrived to rescue the pilot.

When Ben described the fact that a hundred troops from the ship had already landed on the planet, she knew this was her opportunity to make the twins pay and make her escape to Woden.

She offered to prepare a meal in honour of Simeone's arrival at Aetherkraal and as she served the dishes, she made sure to lace Ben and Sarah's food with just enough sleeping powder to ensure that they would sleep very soundly that night.

Her acting during the meal was the best ever. She laughed and joked with the twins, even flirting a little with Ben and then wouldn't hear of it when they offered to help clear up the dishes afterwards.

"You two get some rest, leave this to me," she said, trying to keep the anticipation out of her voice.

Once the twins left the dining room Simeone also decided to head for his bed, leaving Hannah alone with Kadesh.

"What are you up to?" he asked her. "You've been playing up to the twins all night and I suspect it's been for a reason."

"You heard him say that Woden troops have landed on the planet? Well, now's the time to make our escape. I haven't told you before now, but there's something special about Ben, something that gives him enormous power."

Hannah went on to describe how Ben had found the metal nuggets and what he could do with them. Now that she was sharing the secret of the nuggets, she was able to recount the full horror of what the twins had done — how they could have rescued her daughter so easily and how Ben had been playing God.

Kadesh listened with rapt attention. He was already besotted with this beautiful girl and hung on her every word, but even so, her story was so incredible as to be beyond belief.

"But that's just impossible," he said. "No one could do the things you're suggesting."

"I'm going to prove it to you. I drugged the twins' food so they won't wake up. Ben normally keeps his little pouch under his pillow and I'm going to steal it so that we can use it to escape, but not before I make them pay for what they've done," said Hannah.

Kadesh watched as she slipped out of the dining room. Minutes later she was back, a look of triumph on her face.

"I've got it! Look!" she exclaimed, holding up the pouch. "Now I'll show you just what these metals can do."

Hannah skipped over to him and took one of his hands as she prepared herself to use the nuggets. She had linked with the twins often enough now that she had a fair idea of what to do.

Kadesh jumped as he heard Hannah's 'voice' inside his head.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Kadesh couldn't reply. For one, he was in shock at what Hannah seemed to be able to do and for another, she hadn't explained how he could communicate just by sending his thoughts.

In the next instant Kadesh received a further shock when he found himself looking down on the planet as if from outer space. His stomach lurched as Hannah zoomed them both down quickly towards the planet's surface and he saw the area around the caves coming into greater detail.

They could see individuals walking around clearing up the mess where the gantry had once stood. Flashes of light off in the distance drew their attention and Hannah shifted their perspective until they were above the marching squads of Wodenite troops.

"That's what we need! A couple of those troopers would be just the thing to deal with Ben and Sarah."

Kadesh had no idea what Hannah meant but in the next instant he saw two of the troopers suddenly lift up into the air and then they were flying beside them at incredible speed. He caught a glimpse of the ocean below as they sped towards Aetherkraal and then they were descending towards the great house.

As Kadesh 'watched', the troopers glided in through the doors of the house and into the dining room where Hannah set them down none so gently on the floor. She broke her link and they both found themselves back in the dining room once more.

Kadesh could see that it hadn't all been a fantasy. The two troopers were physically standing in front of them. Somehow Hannah had managed to transport them over thousands of miles. He started to ask her how she could have done it.

"How..."

The troopers had already been nervous at the prospect of possibly being attacked by the people on the planet. Their commanders had warned them that they were savages who had already fired missiles at a Woden ship. Their orders were to shoot to kill if they were attacked and their adrenaline was coursing through their bodies.

When they had been lifted up into the air, panic set in and they didn't know what to expect. The combination of emotions was almost overwhelming, but when they were dropped to the floor of the dining room they had one thing clear in their minds — they were being attacked.

Two pulse rifles were already held at the ready and as soon as their feet were solidly on the floor, the troopers opened fire. Hannah and Kadesh fell where they stood, dead instantly. The little pouch was still in Hannah's hand and it slipped onto the floor as her fingers relaxed.

The troopers' next thoughts were to get out of the structure they were in and to try to find their way back to their squad. They looked at each other and then ran from the house, crashing through the surrounding bush.

Ben felt a dull ache in his head when he awoke. He sat up and looked over at his twin who was still sleeping. A request of the replicator produced a glass of water and some painkillers, as he headed for a shower.