Chapter 17

Ben was sitting in his pilot's chair when he heard Elise's 'voice' inside his head.

"Commander, we're ready to make the final jump to Woden. I've scouted ahead and I'm afraid I've got good news and bad news," she said.

"Give me the good news first," replied Ben.

"Captain Marlon and the Scout are still active around Woden, so your fears that they would all already be dead have not been realised," said Elise.

"Excellent! Okay, now the bad news I suppose."

"The Scout has sustained some damage, one of her engines is not working and she has a rupture in her hull," advised Elise.

"But how is that possible? Are Marlon's shields not working?" asked Ben.

"From what I can see ... Oh, perhaps it would be easier to just show you?" suggested Elise.

Ben closed his eyes to shut out the Rebecca's bridge and immediately he was sharing Elise's 'galaxy-view'.

"You can see the damage she's suffered," said Elise. "Can you also see that the shields seem to be working perfectly well?"

"They certainly seem fine to me, yet the damage clearly means that something has managed to get through the shields to hit the Scout. Surely Marlon wouldn't be caught with his shields down? Even he's not that stupid!" said Ben.

"It would seem that Captain Marlon has not been without success, Commander. The total number of Zytol ships is considerably less than when we were here last and I can pick up fragments of debris. My estimate would suggest that he has managed to destroy more than thirty of the Zytol," said Elise.

"Way to go Captain Marlon!" exclaimed Ben.

"Should I make the final jump, Commander? I can ensure that we avoid trouble. As you can see there are a significant number of Zytol ships actively searching for the Scout, but I can make sure we steer away from them for the moment."

Ben opened his eyes and he communicated with Elise 'normally'.

"Elise, inform the Adam and the Hannah that we are preparing to make our final jump. Tell them to have all of their weapons armed and ready — we might as well start to get into the mindset of always being prepared. Simon, the same goes for you. Ensure we've got torpedoes loaded and that your people are manning the cannons."

Once Ben was satisfied that everything had been done that needed done, he told Elise that she could make the final jump with all three ships.

The blue group were moving faster than they should have been and inevitably that meant that the squad on point duty wasn't as thorough as it should be. Their training had emphasised the need to make sure this didn't happen, but the circumstances — hundreds of Zytol being hot on their trail — led to an irresistible need for speed. So, despite having been well-trained in the potential danger of ambush, in their haste, the point squad let the main group walk right into one.

There was nothing wrong with the Zytol's communications systems and news of the blue group's flight had been relayed quickly. A further company (in Zytol terms - fifty-two officers and troopers) of Zytol infantry raced to get into position.

They had taken up position on a ridge that overlooked a broad meadow that Carson and his people would need to pass. Already they could see the Wodenites in the distance and they held their fire, allowing the advance scouts to pass so that they could attack the main group.

As the blue group drew level with the Zytol position, 'spotters' painted or lit-up individual targets, giving the lead for the other Zytol to follow. Three of the Wodenite troopers found themselves as the focus for the fifteen-strong Zytol groups who were soon pouring a hail of fire down from the ridge.

Carson had spotted this new phenomenon during the blue group's last attack and now made the connection between the Zytol tactics and the death of his trooper. The training he had received had also emphasised the importance of continuous movement in a contact situation like this, of not allowing yourself to become bogged-down and static. Carson's brain processed everything at a frantic rate and he quickly screamed at his men.

"Surround the troopers who've been targeted — deflect the shots away from them!" he yelled. "Keep running, don't fucking stop!"

His quick thinking undoubtedly saved lives, as other squad members moved to cluster themselves around those who the Zytol were targeting, cutting off their ability to fully drain the target's shields.

Carson could see the point squad now doubling back to try to help, but he waved them away frantically and urged the remainder of blue group to redouble their speed.

The three ships had no sooner completed the jump that took them into the galaxy where Woden existed, when Ben heard Elise's voice inside his head yet again.

"Commander, I think you should see this," she said, so that no one else could hear.

Ben had already developed an innate trust in Elise's judgement and he closed his eyes immediately to let her share what she had found.

Elise's view showed the fleeing blue group, still coming under heavy fire from the Zytol on the ridge and losing ground to hundreds more of the enemy who were pursuing them.

"Bring them onboard immediately, Elise," Ben ordered, opening his eyes. "Sarah, tell the medical bay to be ready for inbound casualties. Some of our Wodenite friends are in a spot of trouble."

Sarah complied with his order and watched as Ben got out of his seat and dashed from the bridge.

By the time he arrived at the medical bay, blue group was already there and he found a surprised, but thankful Carson calming his troops.

"Commander Ben! Am I ever glad to see you," Carson gushed.

"I'm sorry there was no warning, but by the looks of things I thought it was better to get you out of there first and explain later," said Ben.

"You can say that again, we were in something of a corner. The Zytol have been getting steadily more effective as the weeks have gone on," admitted Carson.

The door to the medical bay opened and Simon entered, quickly drawing cheers from his former comrades in blue group who still clearly held him in high regard from their training.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Elise picked up the good Lieutenant here and his group being pursued by a large number of Zytol. I thought it best to bring them onboard and out of harm's way," answered Ben.

"We were tasked with attacking what was an old holiday camp, but when we got there it was an obvious set-up. I'm pretty sure that the Zytol have started using scanners to pinpoint when we tele-port down to the surface, because within a few hours we had more of them arriving to try to spring a trap on us," explained Carson.

"Why didn't the Scout just beam you back onboard?" asked a surprised Ben.

"We asked them to, but apparently they were in a fight with some of the Zytol ships and couldn't drop their shields to try to tele-port us to safety," replied Carson.

This was the first time that Ben had heard that the Scout needed to lower her shields in order to use her tele-port technology. The Rebecca didn't have that problem of course, as Elise used the abilities given to her by the metals to transport people. Ben wondered if this might explain how the Scout had been damaged — maybe Marlon had lowered his shields in an attempt to rescue his troops and had been caught napping.

"But why were you running?" asked Simon carefully. "I thought the individual shields offered complete protection." He was worried that the answer might be that the blue group had lost its nerve in the face of the enemy.

"They're good, they're very good in fact, but they're not foolproof. Each of the groups has lost troopers in the past week, despite wearing the shields," advised Carson.

He went on to describe his theory about the Zytol concentrating their fire on individuals until something allowed their shots to penetrate the shields.

"That sounds ominous, we'll have to get Thomas on to that right away," said Ben, a worried look flitting briefly across his features. "Tell me more about your target."

Carson took his time to explain all of the details of what was going on at the holiday camp and the fact that the Zytol had set up camouflaged gun emplacements.

"Well done, that sounds like you and the squads did a thorough job," praised Simon.

"Are you telling me that these bastards have taken Wodenite women and that they're using them for their pleasure?" asked an outraged Ben.

"You see! That's just the kind of reaction the Zytol are hoping they'd get. Some of my squad leaders were all for charging in there despite the fact we knew it was a trap. That's exactly what the Zytol want to happen," said Carson.

Ben willed himself to calm down. He could see the logic in what Carson was saying, but that didn't make him feel any less angry about what the Zytol must be doing to these women.

"Simon, make sure our guests are well looked after, there's something I need to check out," he said, wheeling and leaving the medical bay.

Ben's first stop was the engineering section where he found Thomas tinkering with some new technology.

"Thomas, I need you to look at your shield designs again. We've just rescued some of the trained Wodenite troops and their Lieutenant has described a Zytol tactic that seems to be getting through them," said Ben.

He described what Carson had shared with him and watched as Thomas' face grew red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Would concentrating the fire like that make any difference?" Ben asked.

"It might, I'll have to try to recreate it before I'm sure. If it is a fault, I can easily rectify it," replied Thomas.

Leaving Thomas to investigate, Ben made next for the cabin he shared with his twin. He lay down on the bed and contacted Elise.

"Elise, I need you to use your 'galaxy-view' for me."

"Of course, Commander. What do you want to look at?" she responded.

"Not far from where you picked the Wodenites up, there's a holiday camp. I want to see what's going on there. Please be ready to map out everything we see — the detail might be useful later."

Ben closed his eyes and let himself sink into Elise's view. Within moments they were zooming down to the planet's surface and then she navigated until they were directly above the camp that Carson had described.

The gun emplacements were well hidden, but Elise helped Ben identify them. All told there were thirty fortified positions spread throughout the camp and Ben could see why Carson and the blue group hadn't been keen on carrying through their attack — it could have been a disaster.

After focusing on the enemy troops until he was sure all the dangers had been identified and plotted, Ben let his attention turn to the other occupants of the camp.

The Zytol had certainly picked out some of the most beautiful women that Woden had to offer he decided. Every one he looked at was stunning, a fact made obvious by the skimpy garments the Zytol were letting the women wear.

Ben could also sense something else — there was a strange 'feeling' coming from Elise, one he had never encountered before.

"Elise, are you okay?" he asked.

"They're raping these women, aren't they?" she asked.

Ben realised that he was feeling Elise's anger.

"I'm afraid so, but maybe we can do something about it," he replied.

Elise moved their view and Ben found that he was looking down inside one of the bubble holiday homes. A large Zytol officer threw one of the Wodenite women to the floor and began to strip off his own scant uniform.

A series of growls escaped the Zytol's mouth and the woman seemed to understand what was required of her. She raised herself onto her hands and knees and the Zytol officer dropped behind her, shuffling forward to present his already hard cock.

"I can't stand by and watch this!" said Ben.

He leapt up off of the bed and grabbed the pulse rifle that was leaning up against the bedroom wall.

"Put me down there, quickly Elise."

Elise made no attempt to talk Ben out of what he wanted to do, despite the fact that she knew it would be extremely risky. She transported him immediately so that he was behind the door where the would-be Zytol rapist was with his victim.

Ben raised his boot and slammed the door open. The tableau was frozen for an instant - the Zytol beast held the struggling Wodenite woman by the hips as he prepared to slam home his own, personal, outsized weapon into her. As the door slammed open, it raised its head and turned to see what was happening.