Chapter 2

The surprise announcement of New Woden's adherence to the Wodenite cause had been a great success, of that there could be no doubt. Ben and the other twins were swamped by the members of the crew assembled in the auditorium and lifted shoulder high — Elizabeth seemed especially delighted to be manhandled by so many.

Ben and Sarah had organised a huge outdoor banquet and once they managed to extract themselves from the excited crowd, they directed everyone to where it had been set out on a sea of tables. This idea had been partly to engender a party atmosphere but also to underline the point that Ben had already made — there was no need to live inside a bubble on New Woden.

Ben found himself standing beside Captain Marlon as both were loading their plates from the cold cuts that had been laid out. He couldn't resist teasing the Wodenite commander a little.

"I'm sorry that it looks as though I stole your thunder there — but as I said at the beginning, this was about my people welcoming you to our planet. You did say that you might have a little surprise for me of your own, what was that?" Ben asked, hiding his smirk.

Marlon was caught by surprise. He had of course been planning on naming Ben as a lieutenant in the Wodenite forces, but he couldn't very well do that after Ben had announced himself as a Commander-in-Chief.

"Oh it was nothing," spluttered Marlon, "it would simply have detracted from the wonderful ceremony that you put on. Let's just forget it shall we? It was a silly idea anyway."

Having had his fun, Ben moved on to serious matters.

"I've agreed with the Generals how to accelerate the building programme for you and your people," he said. "I hope you don't mind, but we've nicked the plans you drew up for this place and we're using them to create something else entirely."

"What do you mean?" asked the Captain.

"I meant what I said to you earlier — it would be a sin to lock yourselves up in plastic bubbles when you have all of this around you. So, we've taken your plans, used them to identify the amenities that you want and we're going to build it for you. The only difference is that our people will make sure that the construction blends in and compliments nature as opposed to shutting it out."

"But what about this place? What will you do with all of this?" asked Marlon, turning on the spot to take in the newly constructed bubble buildings.

Well, I pointed out to General David that any fighting on the ground on Woden was bound to involve fighting in exactly these kinds of conditions. David is planning on using your plastic bubble city with its covered walkways and all as a training ground," explained Ben.

Captain Marlon shivered. The picture of his people moving through the newly built camp with their weapons was a frightening one — even if they would only be training. It was a stark reminder of what was going to come eventually.

The Stellarites worked with a will to put up a city for the Wodenites over the next few weeks, helped in large measure by an army of drones and the Wodenite crew themselves.

The construction was an ideal opportunity for people to mix and for the Wodenites' distrust of their hosts to gradually break down somewhat.

The site that Ben and the others had chosen took advantage of the natural features of the landscape and the mainly log-built buildings blended well with the wooded slopes on which they were situated.

Through the trees, the Wodenites would have a spectacular view down towards where one of the great rivers on this continent wound its way towards the sea. The plains off in the distance were dotted with wildlife and Captain Marlon admitted that it was as far away from what life on Woden was like as you could get.

"I'm glad you interfered!" he joked with Ben, "this is a thousand times better than the sterile plastic city we would have been living in if left to our own devices."

"You might as well enjoy nature while you can, the next few months and years are going to be busy and we both know what lies in store after that," Ben replied.

"When are the first trainees due to start?"

"David tells me that he and his people are ready for them whenever you want to start. He's explained the size of groups he wants to work with, hasn't he?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, a hundred and twenty eight at a time. He talked me through the squad system that they use and I must admit it's different to anything they taught me at the academy.

"He even explained how they split people up in his own teams. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that most of your people are mated with their own twins — that's not normal on Woden I can assure you.

"Anyway, David says that at first they kept pairs of twins together in squads, but they found it a problem. Each twin was apparently too distracted from their role in the squad by looking out first and foremost for their counterpart. So now they split them up and everybody can concentrate on what they have been assigned to do, which is to think of the squad as a whole."

"We've never known anything different, so having your twin as your mate is natural to us. The bond between twins is a strong one so I can see why that would be a problem when teamwork is more important," Ben agreed.

"It shouldn't be an issue with my people. There are quite a few in relationships of course, but incest is still viewed as something of a taboo. I think they're gradually getting used to it though and I don't expect it to interfere with their training. The first group have already been selected and they can report whenever David wants them."

"Well they might as well start immediately. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll get finished," said Ben. "Have you heard from any other ships yet?"

Marlon looked down at his feet before then meeting Ben's gaze.

"We've had replies to our message from two other Scout class ships. Both Captains indicated that they were en route to Woden. I tried to convince them to come here first, but they wouldn't listen. That's the only contact we've had so far."

Ben shook his head. From what he knew about the Wodenites, the two ships would almost certainly be heading for disaster. The Captains would have served their crews and Woden much better by making for New Woden and taking advantage of the same offer that Ben had made Marlon.

"That's virtually like signing a death warrant for two entire crews," Ben said. "Don't they realise just how ineffectual their ships are going to be against the Zytol? What kind of blind stupidity is it that allows these men to make such a decision?"

Marlon looked away down towards the river. Ben could read his thoughts clearly and knew that the Captain was thinking that until recently he would have probably made a similar decision to his counterparts on these other two ships. Marlon admitted as much when he answered Ben's question.

"Until a few weeks ago I had no idea of just how poorly prepared we were for war. It wasn't until you and your people showed us how ridiculously exposed our ship is, and how poorly trained our troopers are, that I realised the Zytol would make mince meat of us," said Marlon.

The two men shared a moment of silence as they thought of the thousands of men and women on the two ships who were probably flying to their deaths.

"Well at least we can do something to make sure you're better prepared for when we make that flight to Woden," said Ben quietly.

"As you say, we might as well get started as soon as we can. Tell me how the first group are going to be transported," replied Marlon.

"Why don't you tele-port them — I'll get you the coordinates. We might as well make it easy for them — it might be the last easy thing they experience for a while," Ben laughed, thinking about how tough the basic training programme was going to be.

David and Beckie had chosen a spot just on the Stellarite side of the great river for their first training camp. The weather in the region was cooler than where their tribe had set up their community and for what they had planned that was important. Men and women keeling over from heat exhaustion wouldn't be helpful at this early stage.

"So what have we got?" David asked.

"A hundred and twenty-four Woden troopers and four of Ben's people," Beckie answered. "Ben's asked that we have one of his in each of the groups of thirty-two. He's promised me that his people will train hard and show themselves to be natural leaders."

"Well they have to be treated just like everybody else," said David.

"Of course," agreed Beckie.

The camp was basic in its construction. Four long barracks sat side by side, each of them big enough to accommodate thirty-two trainees. There was to be no separation of men from women — members of each squad would eat, drink, train and sleep together as part of building them into effective units.

"It's just as we agreed. The four groups are blue, red, white and green. There are two of our squad leaders assigned to each group and the schedule for each day's training will see them rotate through the various activities," said Beckie.

David nodded absently as he looked at the scene before him.

The 'recruits' had been tele-ported in only half an hour before and they were milling around in front of the barracks on the paved area that they would be using as a drill square.

"Look at them! What a mess, what a complete bunch of losers! Do we have any chance of turning these into something useful in just ten weeks?" David asked, suddenly doubtful of the success of what Ben had asked them to do.

"I'm sure they're not as bad as they look right now. Let's have this discussion again in two weeks time once our people have done a little work with them," laughed Beckie.

Both of them were wearing camouflage fatigues with the only indication of their rank printed in black above the pocket on their left breasts. The boots they wore clumped loudly on the concrete as they began walking towards the unruly mob of trainees.

The Celestialite squad leaders came to attention as they neared, but the others simply ignored them, largely unaware of who they were. Several of the squad leaders cast furtive looks at the Wodenites, concerned at their lack of awareness. David caught the senior squad leader's eye and nodded once.

"ALRIGHT YOU MISERABLE BUNCH OF MAGGOTS! COME TO ATTENTION, SENIOR OFFICERS ON PARADE!" bawled the man in a frightening voice.

The result was farcical. The Wodenites tried to respond to the command to be fair, but none of them knew which way to turn and as a result they fell over each other.

"STAND STILL!" barked the squad leader.

That at least stopped people from bumping into one another. David and Beckie observed as the men and women were gradually separated into their colour-coded groups.

The names and profiles of each of the new arrivals had been sorted through using computers and each individual had been assigned to a four man squad within a group of thirty-two.

The Celestialite squad leaders had their work cut out for them, but they were clearly enjoying themselves as they circled their allotted groups and barked commands.

Eventually a semblance of order was achieved and the four groups of thirty-two were lined up outside each of the barracks. They had been marshalled into lines of eight, four deep, but no one could claim they looked in any way disciplined or orderly.

Beckie had to stifle a laugh when she saw the faces on some of the women, as the sleeping arrangements were explained to each group by one of the squad leaders. The Wodenites were not used to mixing in this way and it looked as if several women were trying to complain and make an issue out of it.

The squad leaders screamed at these unfortunate individuals and resistance evaporated quickly. The Wodenites were simply unused to such aggression and they backed down easily.

One at a time the groups were marched towards a separate building where they were issued with a large bag and all of the kit that they would need for their stay at the camp.

After that they were marched back to their barracks and allowed to enter for the first time.

Inside, the barracks were divided up neatly and simply. The front portion comprised an area for the troops to relax when off duty and held various things with which they could amuse themselves — pool tables, screens showing Woden movies, computer games etc.

The middle portion held the bunks they would be sleeping in and lockers in which they would store their kit. The bunks didn't look very comfortable and the new arrivals eyed them unhappily. This was a far cry from the accommodation most were used to on the WS Scout.

After a moment's hesitation there was a mad scramble as people tried to secure their bunk of choice. Most of the women managed to grab themselves top bunks — possibly thinking that there was greater safety being up there for some reason.

The final portion of the barracks was taken up by communal showers and once again the women were unhappy at the prospect of sharing with the men. The squad leaders showed little sympathy with their complaints though.

"Listen sweetie! Over the next ten weeks you're going to be so close to the men in your squad that you'll be taking a shit right beside them in the woods without blinking an eye! Get used to the idea!" screamed one squad leader at a complaining female trooper.

David and Beckie made a quick tour of each barracks to have a closer look at the people they had to work with and at the end of it David was even more convinced that ten weeks wouldn't be long enough.

"So are we all agreed that we build one prototype to test out the designs before we commit ourselves fully to production?" asked Thomas.

He looked round the table and received nods from the other four engineers present.

"Okay, my people on the ground have already erected the scaffolding and supports for the work on the outer hull to begin. As far as I'm concerned we're good to go. Have I missed anything?" he asked.

"Have we got a name?" asked the engineer called Tippen.

"What do you mean?" asked Thomas.

"Have we got a name for the first ship? What is it going to be called?" Tippen asked again.

Thomas thought for a moment. He realised that the other engineers were just like he was. When they were designing something it became very personal and they had to give it a name. He had done the same with Natalie and Samantha, his two satellites.

"Yeah, I've got a name, but that can wait until it's ready to launch. For now let's just refer to it as prototype number one."

The final design looked remarkably like the ship Thomas had already been working on before the Celestialites had blown it up. What was remarkable about that was that the Wodenite engineers had worked this out for themselves. The ship was mostly bullet shaped, but with two fin-like wings added to give the craft the stability that the engineers had been so worried about.