“You are right Joyce, and Vernon would have been proud of you, as I am, and you now have my agreement; however I believe that we should speak to our people before approaching the commander.” Mark said. “You know Joyce that we are more than lucky, if the rain storm that is still drenching us was not over this part of New Caledonia, then Magnus Smart would have easily found our camp, what with all of the Phaser fire blazing around its perimeter.”
“Maybe the rain is a sign that God is on our side Mark, rather than that of Magnus Smart, should we survive this war I will send him a message to that effect, Magnus Smart that is.” Joyce said grinning for the first time in a while.
**********
The eight teams were still at their posts, just in case a new group of Aldebrans arrived and decided to attack them, which they could well do if they found that the colonists had let their guard down, so they called in half of the sentries, leaving just twelve colonists at each compass point. They then asked the question to all those not on duty, paying extra attention to all those who had lost a partner. As for the colonists on the human trip wire, Joyce spoke to them personally over their smart phones. Initially Mark and Joyce were met with a stunned silence, but the many deaths over such a short period of time had shocked any who had witnessed it close up, and they agreed to the plan, for they all wanted a lasting peace. The remainder were for keeping their prisoners locked up and shooting any of those still free who resisted them. It was only after Mark and Joyce reiterated the problems that went along with this, and John McIntire and some of the others, who had been the mainstay of the teams that had ventured forth from the camp, had explained why they had agreed to the peace plan, that the doubters amongst them finally agreed to offer the Aldebrans peace and not humiliation. Finally, those who had been left at their posts also heard the proposal, and they also agreed to the plan. The majority of the colonists had all thought that murdering their prisoners, or sending them to a Gulag was not the Christian answer to their problem, forgiving them would show the galaxy how to act in victory. Mark was proud to be a part of this colony, one who could now look anyone in the eye knowing that they had acted upon their beliefs.
Mark, Joyce and Captain Larson now asked Commander Lu-Song to join them. When they made the suggestion to him, adding that the Aldebrans would all enjoy the same rights held by the colonists, by becoming New Caledonians, Commander Lu-Song was stunned; he had anticipated a quick end to the lives of all Aldebrans on P1056, now he was being offered citizenship. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his legs almost gave way beneath him, to know such a people must mean that god was looking kindly upon him, and as long as he atoned for his many sins he felt that he had a chance of a good afterlife, assuming that there really was such a thing.
“I do not know how to respond to your kindness, to treat the people responsible for so many deaths and anguish with such generosity of heart makes me ashamed to be an Aldebran. I can only offer up these humble words, on behalf of the Aldebran forces on P1056, or as we shall all call it now, New Caledonia, I accept your offer to become citizens of this planet. However, I do not know how we will support ourselves in the months to come, but that is a problem that we will overcome, for surely nothing is beyond us now.”
“You can help us recover some lost time by helping to cut down the trees that we will all need if we are to build log cabins for all of the colonists of this world, and with the coming of winter we shall certainly need them.” Mark replied kindly.
“We will be only too willing to do so; I have noticed before that any planet undergoing colonization is short of strong hands and strong backs.” Lu-Song replied in a voice that he hoped carried his wish to be helpful, and also showed that he was grateful for the chance of a new life here on this beautiful blue and green planet.
“There may be another problem that requires careful thinking about; the armed freighter that took out your starships might still be up there.” Mark said pointing up to the sky. “We have an idea who it might be but no way of proving it.”
Mark then told the commander of the Genesis cult and the danger it posed for anyone currently on the planet, both from Aldebra or from Earth.
“However, we can worry about that later; first you should inform all of the Aldebrans on the planet of our offer, to stop them from worrying about their future.” Mark said not adding that he also wanted to stop them from disappearing into the forest to become problems at a later time.
Using the captured Aldebran radio, Lu-Song first contacted the scattered troopers who were slowly returning to their old camp site, and then he went to the prison cell and spoke with the Aldebrans there, their answer was the same, they all jumped at the chance to stay on the planet, to become one with the colonists from Earth. Lu-Song now returned and gave Mark and the others the Aldebrans` answer.
“That is great Lu-Song, then tomorrow you and I will visit our old camp site to speak to the troopers and the farmers.” Mark said feeling a lot better than he had for a long time.
Commander Lu-Song now asked Mark a question. “Commander,” Giving Mark a title he thought appropriate. “I must ask you one question; will my men still be confined within their prison cell, now that we have agreed to join you, now that we are citizens of this planet?” Commander Lu-Song now waited for an answer, one that would tell him how much he could rely on their previous words. He felt a little guilty for testing his new friends but he had a duty to all of the surviving troopers.
Mark looked at Joyce Marley and Captain Larson, this was a request they had not anticipated, although it was an obvious one, Mark took it upon himself to answer.
“For the moment Lu-Song, your men will be confined to the limits of the camp, after we have spoken to your men and the farmers at the old camp site they will be permitted to re-join their comrades, or not, it will be their choice.” Mark said.
Commander Lu-Song smiled at his three friends, for that is how he now saw them. “Those terms are acceptable my friends, and we will now show you that we are to be trusted, I will go now and tell my comrades of their imminent release.”
“Lu-Song, before you go, the troopship brought with it a quantity of armoured vehicles, they could be very useful for our new colony, both for transporting people or goods when we move back to the original camp site, and after when we begin to build our colony. Could you ask your men where the vehicles are so that tomorrow morning they can assist us to bring the vehicles back here?”
“Of course Commander.” Lu-Song agreed and went off to speak to his men, accompanied by Joe Finney who had been asked to release their former prisoners.
Mark now spoke to Robbie. “Robbie, I want you to take ten colonists with you and move the Communications Centre to the cave that Richard`s team found, once there I want you to attempt to contact Earth. However, be very careful, if that armed freighter is still in orbit, and is indeed hostile to us, it might well fire its Phaser weapon at your location.”
Mark now turned to Captain Larson and Joyce Marley who were both feeling very happy now that their main antagonist had not only surrendered but agreed to join their colony.
“Captain Larson, Joyce, we should leave a reduced guard of ten colonists at each of our four defensive points, just in case trouble rears its head. Although I firmly believe that the war is over and that the Aldebrans pose no problem to our wellbeing, I believe it might also be wise to have a rapid response team ready. When Commander Lu-Song and I head off tomorrow morning for our original camp site, please keep an eye open for trouble and stamp on it hard. It could come from the Aldebrans who are angry at the deaths of their comrades, or from our own colonists for the same reason, it could even come from the Genesis cult if they finally locate our camp. Put a strong guard on the armoury, but try to make it as covert as possible, so the Aldebrans do not feel slighted.” Mark said.
“I agree with you Mark, we do not have anything to fear from the Aldebrans, but as you say we should take precautions for the moment, just in case we are both wrong.” Joyc
e Marley replied. “However, all three of us here should bear in mind that now we have won the war we now need to win the peace, and while we need security, our former enemies need to see our trust.” Joyce said levelly. “There is one more thing Mark, I have not had the chance to tell you how grateful we all are to you, your leadership kept the number of our people killed to a minimum after the first surprise attack, thank you for keeping so many of us alive.”
Mark blushed at her words and Susan, who had just appeared at his side, put her arms around him and kissed him.
The next morning the skies were clear, the rain storm had finally moved on, however it meant that the Genesis cult could now continue with their search for the colonist camp. Within the camp there was much activity after breakfast, it started when Mark and the Commander Lu-Song left for the old camp site in one of the small tracked vehicles. A little after they had gone the Aldebran troopers along with some of the colonists boarded the larger tracked vehicles and went to locate the Aldebran armoured vehicles and then to drive them back to junction where the wider track met their own personal track that led down to their camp. Finally, Robbie took his team to the cave where they set up the Communications Centre.
**********
On reaching the old camp site, Mark gathered the troopers and the Aldebran farmers together and told them that they were now all colonists of Earth, that they enjoyed all the rights possessed by the Earth colonists, that they were citizens of New Caledonia. He then spoke solely to the troopers.
“The colonists from Earth knew that the first few years would be hard and that they would have to give some of their time to help the other colonists. Your initial time, if you agree, will be filled doing one of two tasks, first to fell the trees and then to build the log cabins that will be the homes of all of the citizens of New Caledonia, so that we can all pass the winter in relative warmth and comfort, yourselves included. Each home will have fresh water and electricity and you will be able to turn to our doctor if you are injured or fall ill. The other task during this time will be to hunt the wild animals of this world and so provide food for all of the colony until the farms are able to supply us with our needs. If you feel this is not for you then you can become a farmer, or a miner, we will be happy to provide you with whatever assistance that you require. If anyone here has a talent for any trade, whatever it may be, please come to me, we need you.”
Mark then turned to the farmers. “You will all receive our help to carve out your farms, for we have farming machinery to clear the ground for all of our new farms, and tractors to do the manual work, this should ensure that all our farms will be up and running before the winter returns. If you need any specialist assistance then feel free to speak to my wife who is far more qualified than I am to speak to you about farming, as indeed are many of the colonists from Earth.”
Mark now addressed all of those before him. “As soon as an Earth ship arrives I will ask them to inform Earth of the situation here, and ask our Church to send more supplies for all of the colonists on New Caledonia. No one here will be left out in the cold; all we ask in return is that you help build our colony.”
Both the troopers and the farmers seemed happy with their new future and Mark was able to breathe a sigh of relief, and he thought that soon he might even be able to get on with his honeymoon.
**********
Robbie and his team arrived at the cave and quickly set up the Communications Centre. The next task was to set up one of the solar-powered photovoltaic panels, this they hooked up to the small but powerful transformer that was attached to the Communications Centre. With this attended too Robbie ran a systems check on the Communications Centre, with everything looking good he set up the subspace transmitter. Robbie and his team had to wait two long hours before the planet moved into its optimum position, the transmitter set safely within the cave was now pointing in the general direction of Earth. He now ordered everyone to move at least one hundred yards away from the cave, taking their transport with them. Only now did Robbie turn on the communications send and receive software, to have done so before might have sent an invitation for the ship in orbit to fire down on their position, and with his team still in or near to the entrance of the cave.
“Come in Earth, this is the colony on New Caledonia calling...”
That is as far as Robbie got before his receiver blasted him with static, once again his broadcast was being jammed, confirming that the freighter that destroyed the Aldebran starships was no friend of the colonists.
On board the Genesis, Magnus Smart laughed as he imagined how the colonists must have reacted to the jamming of their message. “Ms Smits, have you located where the colonists are broadcasting from?”
“Yes Sir, I am training out cameras on them now, you should see the area on your monitor in just a few seconds.”
On the monitor before Magnus Smart he saw the forest of New Caledonia appear, he zoomed in searching for signs of their camp, and swore when he could not find it.
“They appear to have had the foresight to position their Communications Centre in a different location to their camp, and it appears that they have hidden it within a cave, how very clever of them. Ms Smits, return the cameras to the crash site, I think they will soon show themselves there.
**********
The skies were still clear on the day of the big move; the day after Mark had told all of the Aldebrans that they were now citizens of New Caledonia. This time the big move would take the colonists back to their original camp; however Mark had decided that only a small number of the colonists would initially make the trip, and they would only take a small quantity of their goods with them. The reason being that Mark expected the starship belonging to the Genesis cult to fire down upon them as soon as Magnus Smart had enough of the hated colonists in his sights.
“But you are only taking thirty colonists with you; Magnus Smart will never believe that this compromises the entire colony.” Richard argued.
“Magnus Smart has no idea how many of us survived the crash, or how many have survived the war, no he will believe it.” Mark replied.
Joyce Marley was of the same opinion, and anyway she did not want to put all of their lives in harm’s way, so Mark`s plan was put into operation. The day before they were due to leave, the Aldebrans had brought the armoured vehicle to the junction where their narrow trail met the main trail, the nearest point that they could manage in the large heavy vehicles. Mark had arranged for the drivers to have some of the survival blankets to lay across the engines, to hide their heat signature from above, in this way Magnus Smart could not follow their heat signature to their new camp.
At first light the next morning the thirty colonists used their tractors to haul them and a small amount of equipment in the wagons to the junction where they boarded the vehicles, they then drove through the forest to the old camp site, arriving at dusk. Mark had the drivers’ park alongside the river; he needed them later to complete his deception. Mark had decided to use the same trick as he had used to fool the crew of the North Wind.
He had asked Joyce Marley to have all of the colonists move inside of the caves before the sun went down, for they now had no survival blankets to hide their heat signature. He and Joyce had agreed that although there would not be room to even swing a cat, she hoped that it would only be for the one night, so it would not be too much of a hardship to ask of them.
Back at the old camp site the first thing he did was to seek out Andreas and his family, and on finding them he told them of his plan to fool their latest enemy, then together with Andreas he spoke to the Aldebran farmers and asked them to light their usual camp fires that evening. He then went with Commander L-Song to ask the same thing of the troopers and with all the Aldebrans promising to cooperate he returned to the colonists. Mark and the colonists now lit many more camp fires in the prairie, alongside the river; there they laid out their bed rolls and some of the equipment that they had brought along. When the sun had set and darkness ruled the land
Mark had the heavy vehicles, their heat signature hidden, drive along the line of the colonists to pick up all of the colonists, their disappearance being hidden by the use of their own survival blankets. The colonists were taken far into the prairie to the small temple that they had used before. Mark now returned to the camp site and picked up the troopers, and using the same technique he had them taken to the old temple that was fast filling up, in fact most of them had to bed down along the narrow gully that ran away from the temple. He left Lu-Song in charge to ensure that each person not inside of the small cave was hidden beneath a survival blanket, for Mark knew that they only had one shot at this. As for the farmers he had given the colony`s remaining survival blankets to them, and he told them that after midnight they must move deeper into the forest, and seek cover there, for Mark did not expect the Phaser fire to begin until the early morning.
The low tech scanners and cameras aboard the armed freighter Genesis easily located the many extra camp fires, and Magnus Smart decided that he would open fire on the sinners at four in the morning, when everyone should be asleep.
“It seems Captain that the colonists have made peace with the Aldebrans, how very Christian of them, pity it will not last through to the morning.” Magnus Smart sneered.
When the time came around the camp sites alongside the small river exploded in flames as Phaser bolts whistled down through the night sky to explode against the hard ground, and had the colonists still been they would have been killed to a man, or woman. When he was satisfied that he had killed enough of these sinners he ordered the Phaser to target the troopers` campsite, and this too was destroyed, the heat of the explosions setting fire to the surrounding prairie. Then the Phaser targeted the camp fires of the farmers, and soon the forest alongside the prairie was in flames, driving the farmers further away from whatever meagre possessions they had not taken with them and now never would, for they were burning into so much ash.