Chapter 14

Elizabeth's warning had at first fallen on deaf ears. She hunted down Fergus and Isaac and tried to get them to listen to her.

"I'm telling both of you that a Woden space ship has arrived and it has put down troops on our planet who are even now planning to attack us!" she snapped.

"How could you possibly know that?" asked Isaac.

"Just send somebody out to look, would you? If I'm wrong then I'll be embarrassed, but if you're wrong people could die."

"Okay, okay. I'll send a drone, just hang on a minute," said Fergus.

He was already sitting at the control console and it was an easy job to re-task one of the available drones to make a sweep over the ridge where Elizabeth claimed the troops were hiding.

Both Isaac and Fergus' posture stiffened when the drone's camera clearly showed the troops exactly where she said they would be. Once they knew there was a threat, there was no more reluctance in doing the other things that Elizabeth had asked.

Drones were sent out to warn all of the people who were currently outside to make their way back to the caves. For some that would be difficult — for example those out farming - as the troops were between them and the cave network.

Isaac ran off to the replicator room to oversee production of additional weapons so that everyone could be armed.

The drones were used to establish a perimeter and monitor the movement of the troops, but by the time darkness was falling, they hadn't approached any closer.

David's recovery was amazingly quick and Beckie 'mothered' him in the back of one of the hover vehicles as they raced westwards as fast as they could go. They weren't ignoring the need for vigilance and had two smaller, scout, vehicles ahead to ensure they didn't run into trouble.

"God has returned to me and everything is clear once more," He said.

"Good! I don't like it when you're upset. The Lord spoke to me too and some of his bigger plan is now becoming clear — isn't it?" Beckie asked.

"I've decided that it's dangerous to try to second guess the Lord. From now on I'm going to listen to his words carefully and do what he asks of me," David answered.

The atmosphere inside each of the vehicles was grim and determined. The Celestialites knew that they were going to help the very people who had vowed to wipe them from the face of the planet — but their God had ordered them to do so and that made it an act of faith, an act of worship.

Beegs knew that he was out of his depth. The sight of two of their comrades being lifted up into the sky had seriously unsettled his already very nervous men. Their return had spooked the men just as much if not more and stories immediately began to spread about who had taken them, where they had been and why they had been returned. The two men were certainly eyed suspiciously by those around them.

The Lieutenant had questioned both of them and listened wide-eyed to the tall tale that they told.

"Have you both been drinking? You expect me to believe that?" Beegs asked.

"What part don't you believe sir? You saw us being taken up into the air with your own eyes. You saw us being returned similarly. Is it the part where we killed two of the savages that you're having difficulty with?"

Beegs saw the man's point. He couldn't deny what he had seen with his own eyes. He decided the man's insubordinate tone was a good enough excuse to get both of them back to the ship. They were unsettling everybody else with their presence, including himself he admitted.

"You'll keep a civil tongue in your head when your speaking to an officer, trooper. Consider yourselves on a charge of insubordination. You — have them tele-ported back to the ship and locked down."

The squad leader that Beegs had pointed to hurried to carry out his orders, pulling a comms unit from his belt and contacting the ship to tele-port the two 'prisoners'.

Beegs told the other squad commanders to have their men bed down for the night, but to post sentries around a perimeter. They had observed the comings and goings at the cave network for some time now, but there had been no sign of anyone who could possibly be the pilot they were looking to rescue.

Beegs took the opportunity now of reporting back to the Captain.

"I'd estimate that there are between two and three hundred of them, Sir, but no sign of our target. The odds are that, if he's here, they're keeping him locked up inside the caves somewhere."

"I don't see any point in you remaining camped-out in the woods, Beegs. You'll just have to go in there and take a closer look," ordered Marlon.

Beegs wasn't happy with that idea and let his Captain know.

"We saw a flurry of activity this evening and it looks as if most of them have holed themselves up in the caves — that might mean that they're aware we're here. To be honest, the men here are extremely nervous — none of them has fought before. The prospect of trying to overcome superior numbers, especially when they're in such a strong defensive position, doesn't exactly thrill me either, Captain."

Marlon was just as green when it came to armed conflict and it showed in his reply.

"Why don't you just rush them? With the firepower you have, you should be able to pin them down easily enough. What you see as a strong defensive position, might in fact turn out to be a death trap for the savages."

Beegs grimaced. The Captain might have overhead images of the lay-out of the valley and the caves, but he wasn't the one who would need to cross the open ground in front of the caves and then try to charge up a steep hill.

"I don't think it's quite as easy as you're making out, Sir," he replied. "I'd rather avoid casualties if I can avoid it. Isn't that what a good commander thinks about?"

"A good commander should also be willing to take risks, to be brave and carry out his orders!" Marlon answered back. "Make your move at first light and you'll probably catch them still asleep."

Beegs knew when to cut his losses. It was clear that the Captain wanted him to complete the task he had been given so that they could be on their way back to Woden as soon as possible.

Before turning-in to get some rest himself, Beegs called his squad commanders together and informed them that they would be moving forward at first light. Even with just the firelight to see by, he noticed more than a few of them were alarmed at the news.

"I expect all of you to lead by example, from the front," he told them. "I know some of the men are nervous, but with any luck we'll catch them by surprise and it will be over quickly."

Ben and Sarah explained to Simeone that Hannah and Kadesh had been killed by two Woden troopers. They were able to show him a short clip of the surveillance recording — the bit that showed the pair running from the house — to confirm their story.

Simeone was appalled. This kind of behaviour was so alien that it was hard to believe yet the recording showed the proof.

"Hannah was a dear friend, one of the original twins. We've decided to have a large ceremonial burial to make sure her memory lives on," Ben told Simeone.

He was surprised to see that the man had tears in his eyes.

"It's just hit me. The man who assaulted me — Adam — and now Hannah, both of them were of my first born, my son and daughter. I didn't expect to feel like this, but it really hurts," Simeone sobbed.

Sarah was also letting her grief out at last and she crossed to share with the man who was her father, putting her arms round him and burying her face in his chest.

Ben felt that there was more pressing matters to consider and held his own feelings in check for the moment. He fired a question at Simeone.

"I understand that their main force has taken up position near where our biggest community is based," said Ben.

"Would that be at the cave network?" Simeone managed to reply.

"Sorry, I forgot that you've already met some of the Stellarites," laughed Ben.

"It was no laughing matter, I can tell you. They jumped me, tied me up and then my own son, Adam, punched me in the face before kicking me in the groin. It was savage, absolutely savage. I hope the commander of the Woden troops knows what he's up against," Simeone whined.

"How much do you know about Woden military doctrine?" Ben asked. "For some reason I don't have any inherited memories that tell me about that. What tactics are they likely to use?"

"The reason you don't have any memories is that Woden doesn't have any military doctrine. You've not been listening to me, have you? We don't fight, have never fought. There's never been any need to before," Simeone replied.

Ben found that very hard to believe and he pressed again.

"You must have some idea of what they'll do."

"None. Who knows what's going through that poor commander's head and I'll bet not many of them get much sleep through worrying about what they might face. The commander might try to negotiate, but I wouldn't bet on it. If anything, he'll panic and those around him will too. That could lead to a disaster!"

"Ben can't you think of anything to stop this?" pleaded Sarah, still clinging to Simeone.

"I'm working on it," he replied testily.

Dawn was just breaking when one of the Stellarite drones picked up movement below and raised an alarm in the security control room. Fergus had just come back on duty after having four hours of sleep. He stared at the screen and thought he saw something moving in the dim light of morning. Seconds later he realised that the Woden troops were moving forward in an attempt to surprise them and he raised the general alarm.

Pulse rifles opened fire from every cave-mouth, with some fifty Stellarites shooting blindly.

The Woden troops scrambled for cover and some simply ran away, back the way they had come. Beegs tried to maintain control, ordering his squad leaders to round up their men and remain under cover for the moment.

The morning grew brighter and those few troopers who had run away came slinking back to their comrades with the news that a second force had taken up position on the ridge behind them.

"Sir, one of my men advises that we have a second force behind us now. They've apparently taken the ridge we were previously holding."

Beegs was shocked. He had led his men down into the valley and now he found that he was caught between two forces, both of which were on high ground. He couldn't think of a worse position to be in.

A chunk of bark blasted from a nearby tree and Beegs ducked instinctively. Another blast quickly followed and then Beegs noticed that the soil was also being kicked up nearby.

"We're under fire from the rear!" he cried out, as he rolled to find cover that protected him from both groups of the enemy.

He found himself close to one of his squad commanders and he shared his disbelief.

"How can they fire at us from that range? I didn't even hear any shots!"

The distance was easily over three thousand metres from the ridge and Beegs wasn't aware of any weapon that could fire over that distance. Neither had he heard of a weapon that didn't make any noise when it was fired. He pulled his communication unit from his belt and tried urgently to contact his Captain.

Ben and Sarah were ensconced once more in his study. They were linked together and looking down at the situation in front of the caves. It was clear that the Woden troops were pinned down, with fire coming from both the caves and David's people up on the ridge.

The twins could hear the Stellarites in the caves cheering when they realised that someone appeared to have come to their aid and Ben hoped that would bear fruit later.

"Now what are you going to do?" asked Sarah.

"I have had one idea and now is as good a time as any to try it out," he replied.

Sarah felt her perspective change rapidly and suddenly found herself looking down at Captain Marlon on the bridge of the WS Scout. The Captain was apparently in communication with the troops on the ground and they listened-in to what was said.