That night saw the number of sentries increased to eighteen; six around each starship, as for the North Wind, it was high above the forest ensuring that the colonists did not attempt to call Earth again. Not only did Oshiro want to ensure that his men could not be taken out again, but also that the starships that they guarded were also protected against a commando style raid. He thought that with this many sentries, all of whom were under the cone of light thrown out by the landing lights of the starships that no further raids would be made.
**********
Four hours after the sun set Mark led his team slowly through the tall prairie grass towards the Aldebran starships. He did not need a map, the light thrown out by the starships was clearly visibly even below the far horizon. He stopped when they reached the top of a small hill; they were only two hundred meters away from their targets. Before them, clearly visible because of the lighting, he saw the eighteen sentries who were his team`s initial targets. His team did not need to be told what to do; he had explained it to them twice that day, once just before they had left the small shrine under the prairie.
They spread out along the top of the hill, with Mark at the far end, and settled down for the pigeon shoot. The rest of the Aldebran task force had retired into their tents for the night, for it was almost two in the morning. Seeing the sentries clearly under the lights Mark decided that the time for the second part of his plan had come. The other members of the team could also see that the time for action was upon them, they looked across at Mark who flashed a small torch just once, this was the signal for the team to open fire with their Phaser rifles. The sound of the energy bolts as they whistled through the air before striking their targets woke the sleeping Aldebrans, and when they rushed into the lighted area to aid their comrades, they found that silence has settled over the prairie, except for the moans coming from those amongst the eighteen sentries who had not died when the powerful energy bolts hit their bodies. The arrival of the bulk of the Aldebran task force was the signal for Mark and his team to open fire yet again.
As the silence of the night was broken again by the loud whistling sounds of the energy bolts tearing through the night air, Oshiro realised that it had been a trap, that he had been duped. He screamed for the lights on the starships to be extinguished, for another eighteen men had already fallen to ground, once again hit by the Phaser fire whistling in from the dark prairie. The troopers either found cover or hugged the ground, then they opened fire upon Mark and his team. Their location was instantly known to the troopers, for they can see where the energy bolts are coming from, soon the area below and upon the brow of the hill was being plastered by powerful energy bolts.
However, Mark and his team had already left, what was firing upon the Aldebran task force were their own weapons. The rifles that Mark had asked to be brought back from the night before had been set up to fire continually, and as the team faded away into the night, the weapons provided them with covering fire. The Aldebrans wary of becoming a statistic kept their heads down, that is until the Phasers firing upon them ran out of power, then they moved warily forward to find that their attackers had long disappeared into the night.
As Mark and his team headed towards their transport, that should be patiently waiting for them having returned during the night to the pickup point, Oshiro spent these vital hours waiting until daylight to search for commandoes, too scared to track them down during the night for fear of walking into yet another trap. Mark and his team were sitting in their camp as the first Aldebran troopers dared enter the forest in search of them.
As for the North Wind, Karin had feared that the colonists would use the opportunity to call Earth, should he move across to search for the commandoes, and so he had stayed put giving Mark and his team a clear drive home.
**********
This fear upon the part of the Aldebran troopers was not lost upon some of the Aldebran farmers, who spent the first hour after the sun had risen talking amongst themselves.
“They are cowards, the farmers from Earth have already beaten them, we only have to wait for the cowards to realise it and run for home.” Andreas declared boldly.
“And what will happen to us then, I will tell you Andreas, the earthmen will come for us.” Kronos replied anxiously, Kronos was of a similar age to Andreas; however, he had become weighed down with fear back on Aldebra, now he jumped at his own shadow.
“No they will not, for they have already told me that we should share this green planet together, all we have to do is stay here when the troopers leave.” Andreas said.
“You have spoken to the commandoes Andreas, tell us, are they soldiers or farmers?” Arron asked, he was a younger man than Andreas, and easily fired up with courage. “Are they giants or just like us?”
“They are farmers Arron, but they all possess Phaser rifles, they brought them here to hunt the animals that live on this planet by the million, have we not seen them when we accompanied our brave soldiers on their hunt. Brave are our soldiers against beasts that do not possess Phasers.” Andreas replied.
The other farmers who had come to the meeting were now fired up; however Kronos was still full of worry.
“When the soldiers leave they will take us with them.” Kronos declared anxiously.
“No, Kronos, we will watch them, when they begin to load their troopship we will disappear into the forest. Take nothing with you except for a little food and water; we do not have anything worth dying for in any case, just the rubbish that they make us purchase.” Andreas stated boldly. “My friends from Earth will look after us, even their cast offs will be better than the goods that I have in my hovel.”
**********
Oshiro knew that he must take action, or face being replaced as commander and then sent home in disgrace. He had decided against using their vehicles, he now realised that the noise made by them would only make it easier for the colonists to mount more ambushes, no, he decided that it would be better to set up a series of covert bases deep within the forest, the troopers would then wait for the colonists to pass nearby and launch attacks against them. Although the moral of his men was at rock bottom, he knew that they would not dare to desert by fleeing into the forest, waiting there for him to leave P1056, for they feared the wrath of their emperor even more than they feared the earthmen.
Oshiro then called the starship captains into his office aboard the troopship; he had come to another decision, this time regarding the security of two starships and the men set to guard them.
“Captain Hung you will take your freighter up to the smaller of this planet`s two moons, once there you will wait until ordered to do otherwise.” Oshiro ordered a very relieved Hung who feared an early death if he remained on the planet much longer.
Oshiro now turned to the captain of the troopship. “Captain Mi-Ling, you will accompany Captain Hung in your troopship, I will have my wounded troopers put aboard your ship, it will relieve me of their security. You are also to stay there and await further orders.”
Oshiro now turned to the captain of the salvage vessel. “Captain Weel, I suggest that you get your crew to work harder, I lost almost a quarter of my men last night, and my command will be stretched in the week ahead as we actively hunt down the earthmen. Therefore I cannot guarantee to keep your vessel safe from attack during that period; maybe you should move to a landing site further away and fly here each morning to work upon the earth ship.”
Captain Weel was about to protest about the costs of doing such a thing, however, he had second thoughts, being away from the main company of troopers made a lot of sense, however he did have a question.
“What about the security of my men when we are working Commander, will you provide some then?” Weel asked.
“I have thought of that Captain, I will give you a squad of men, they will be stationed aboard your starship, only leaving it when your men are in or around the colonist`s ship, they will set up a perimeter around your team to ensure that you can work without fear or danger.?
??
Oshiro now called Captain Karin on the radio. “Captain Karin, I need you to step up operations, if you need any of my men they are yours, but I need you to work up to twenty fours a day, we need to wipe the colonists off the face of the planet before they do likewise to us. I have ordered Captain Weel to find a new landing site, one far away from here for his own protection; you can join him when you are on the ground. As for the other two starships, they are about to leave for this planet`s smaller moon to ensure that they too are out of harm`s way. I will then be able to concentrate on my war against the earthmen and not on the safety of our starships.”
Karin knew that Oshiro did not have any men that would be of use to him, however the rest of Oshiro`s plan did make sense. Therefore, he reluctantly agreed to increase the hours that the North Wind would be operating each day, and as the commander had stated, Oshiro would not need to worry about the security of the starships; instead he could spend his time waging an all-out war against a dangerous opponent.
Oshiro breathed with relief, with the security of the spacecraft now somebody else’s problem, his life would be a little easier, all he had to do now was win a war against a very able enemy. However, Oshiro did not have a base to defend now, the earthmen did, the way the war had been waged so far was about to change in his favour, and his men were trained to kill.
**********
The armed freighter Genesis commanded by Magnus Smart was in a high orbit above the vast forest, it was still carrying out its search for the colonists, but without any luck. They had witnessed the fire fight at the Aldebran`s base but had not been able to follow Mark and his team back to their camp, for Mark had ensured that they all donned their survival blankets, just in case the North Wind came in search of them.
“Sir, two of the Aldebran spacecraft have lifted off from the planet`s surface, they appear to be moving up through the planet`s atmosphere, we are in danger of being discovered.” Captain Isaacs said anxiously.
Smart looked at the screen and saw the two flashing blips, he had been getting increasingly angry at not being able to locate the colonists, he now decided to take this anger out on someone else.
“Captain, when the two starships pass through 18000 feet fire upon them with our Phaser, I suggest that you move closer to the planet`s atmosphere, our equipment is hardly state of the art, we need as large a target as possible to ensure success. Let us rid this Eden of some of the sinners that have infested it.” Smart ordered.
**********
Captain Mi-Ling aboard the troopship was soon notified of the freighter approaching his position; he knew that it was obviously not from Aldebra, could it be a rescue ship from Earth, this would be very awkward for Aldebra?
“Commander Oshiro, this is the troopship Defiant, a freighter of unknown origin has just left orbit around P1056 and is now on a course that will bring it near to us and the freighter.” The communications officer of the troopship said nervously.
Commander Oshiro was also worried by this turn of events, he left his headquarters tent and looked up at the sky, he was just in time to see first one fireball, and then a second one, explode far above him, moments later and he saw flaming debris falling back down to the planet. His mind was racing, how should he react to this unexpected turn of events? To send the North Wind up to investigate could see him lose this ship as well, its Phaser weapon was designed to fire down at the ground, not in front or above it. If he sent it up after the alien ship, the aliens would destroy the North Wind before it even left the planet`s atmosphere,. Moreover, in the coming days the North Wind would be crucial to his plans; no he would wait and see what the newcomer did next. However, he did send a message to the North Wind and the salvage vessel telling them of the armed freighter, and for them to be ready to react to an attack from this unknown newcomer.
**********
On the freighter Genesis, Magnus Smart was feeling a lot better, his tension has gone and he was once more the amiable religious fanatic that he always was. “I think we have now attracted their attention Captain, have your communications officer listen out for any attempts by the aliens to call for assistance, and please be sure to jam any such attempt.”
**********
Oshiro was still looking anxiously up at the sky, however it took him but a moment to consider what to do, he walked over to the large tent that was temporarily his office and headquarters building and he spoke to his own communications officer.
“Lo-Man, put a call into Aldebra, request assistance against what must be a starship from the space fleet of Earth.” Oshiro ordered.
One minute later and Lo-Man called across to him. “Sir, we are being jammed by a very powerful device; I cannot get a call through to Aldebra, not with this equipment.”
Oshiro turned and stared angrily at his young officer, he knew what the officer had not said, that the necessary equipment had been on the troopship that was now so much space debris. Not wanting to show outright rage before a junior rank, he first got control of his anger and only then did he reply.
“Keep on trying Lo-Man; let me know when you get through.”
Oshiro left his headquarters and walked quickly into the prairie to think, things were not going well. If it was a starship from Earth why had it not contacted the colonists, why had it attacked two unarmed ships and left his base and the other two starships alone? This brought to mind the communications equipment aboard the North Wind, surely that would be strong enough to punch through the jamming? However, to attempt to do so might cause the newcomer to destroy the North Wind. Oshiro decided to wait and see what the future held.
**********
Mark had seen the two starships lift off from the planet`s surface, they had flown quite near to the colonists` new camp as they gained height, he had also seen the two explosions in the sky, saw the burning debris spiralling down through the atmosphere, so he too was wondering what had caused it, could rescue be at hand?
Just minutes later he saw the third of the Aldebran starships after it had lifted off and it too flew over their camp, but it did not head into space, it turned and flew west over the prairie, flying at no more than five hundred feet above the ground until it disappeared from his view. Mark decided to call a meeting of the colony`s senior people to hear what they thought about the curious happenings, and when they had gathered he started off proceedings.
“If a space cruiser from Earth did attack and destroy the two starships then it did so after failing to make contact with us, for the Communications Centre is sitting two hundred yards away, and to stop the Aldebrans from finding us it has not been switched on. I would like to hear the opinions of everyone here as to whether we should move the Communications Centre over to the cave that Richard`s team found and attempt to make contact with the ship.” Mark said.
Captain Larson was the first to offer an explanation regarding the strange events. “If the twin explosions and subsequent falling debris were in fact the two Aldebran starships that left the surface of New Caledonia, then I can offer two explanations that could explain it. One, that they collided with each other, however I do not believe that the crews of the two ships were that poor, two that the Aldebrans sacrificed the two starships to make us believe that rescue was at hand and that we would then attempt to communicate with the space cruiser, giving our location away.”
His second explanation effectively doused the high spirits of everyone and Richard now spoke. “Captain Larson, your first explanation was wrong, what you did not see, for you were in one of the caves when the incident began, was two separate fireballs, the ships did not collide they were ruthlessly taken out by Phasers. However, I do not believe that a space cruiser from Earth has arrived, for why should it fire upon what were most probably two unarmed ships and leave the other two starships, and the Aldebran troopers, alone.”
Joyce Marley now spoke. “I am forced to admit that I too am at a loss to offer any reasonable explanation regarding the twin explosions.” She then turned to Mark. “
If you want it cleared up then you will have to get your hands on an Aldebran officer, until then I suggest that we forget it for the moment, until we get more data.”
“Well what you have all said sums up my own feelings, and that is why I am not going to set up the Communications Centre but instead take up the suggestion made by Joyce. The forest is full of Aldebran patrols, why do we not ambush one and find an answer to the question?” Mark said.
**********
Now both the Aldebrans and the colonists were looking to ambush the patrols of the other side, their reasons behind their decisions differed but they both decided on using similar tactics, however, the Aldebran forces greatly outnumbered those that Mark was willing to send out. A number of the colonists were itching to get to grips with their enemy, however Mark knew that to succumb to their demands would lead to even more deaths, or even worse, their being tortured into leading the Aldebrans to the colonists’ camp. Even the most ardent believer in retribution could not argue against this chilling warning, so his team always had himself or Richard in it. However, he decided that after this patrol he would not only alternate the other positions on the team, but send two teams out, with Richard in command of the second team This was to give the present members a chance to recover from the stress caused by the constant fear of an attack upon them, that and rest the tired muscles that were not accustomed to being used so much.
Ricardo Malic had once again consented to join them, Richard Rider had of course, Susan Summers had demanded to be included, and Penny Rider would have done except that she had sprained her ankle, Captain Larson was another man who had asked to be included; so that he would experience the dangers that Mark and his team accepted now as everyday life. Also included on today’s patrol were John McIntire, Rogé Patel, Karl Meiser and finally Chief Engineer Peterson who had also requested to go on the patrol to see if he could take the stresses involved and the energy needed on the long marches. A slightly larger team than normal, and one which encompassed two men from the Ark`s crew who, Mark thought, would be used to thinking on their feet. Robbie was asked to take over Captain Larson`s duty relating to the four guard posts, to which he agreed for he was getting restless.