“From what we have found within the caves we have entered Penny, no one has lived in them for millennia. Strange as it seems, we will not even be troubled by the odd carnivore.” Richard replied. “Although it is puzzling, could a race of beings have lived and died upon this planet so long ago.”
Another of the colonists, who had been listening to their conversation, now offered a possible answer. “I have seen videos of similar stone figures, they were on New Mars, maybe this is another planet where the ancients lived ten thousand years ago, if so it tells us why it is now uninhabited, they left for pastures new, ones that are far away.” Mary Paget ventured.
Mary was another colonist looking for somewhere to raise a family, somewhere peaceful and free of the violence still occurring on Earth.
“If you are correct, Mary, it would certainly answer the question as to who our stone builders were and why they are no longer here.” Richard said.
The evening was filled with questions and possible answers as to who had carved the stone figures, then the talk turned to their own future, and who amongst them thought that they could win against their enemy, and who thought that there would be many more deaths before the outcome was decided one way or the other. The discussion ended when Richard called a halt to it and ordered everyone to try to get some rest, for it would be a long day tomorrow.
The sun had only just risen the next morning and Richard was already chasing everyone to get ready to move, he was in a hurry to report their findings to the rest of the colony, it might just ease the tensions that had been steadily building. He did not want to make use of his cellular phone, for it would alert the Aldebran ship as to where they were, and after the move the captain of the ship might well remember their long trip into the forest. They finally set off for the base camp one hour later, after everyone had washed and eaten; survival rations yet again. They took a circular route back to base, rather than retracing their steps, so that they could see what else this part of the planet held. Just a mile away from the new site they found a large cave that they immediately decided would make an ideal home for their Communications Centre. The small entrance to the cave was well hidden, it was at the edge of a particularly thick piece of woodland, however there was ample space within the cave to house the Communications Centre, and the roof of the cave was solid granite. Richard Rider took more photographs of this cave to show to Bishop Marley and Mark. They had been lucky to find it; a shaft of sunlight lighting up the mouth of the cave seemed to be an omen to the colonists, and one sent by God.
Chapter Seven
The War Heats Up
On their return, Richard and his team immediately sought out Mark and Bishop Marley and told them of the wooded hollow, the river and the stone figures, and both of the men immediately asked for more information, which Richard now provided, both photographically and verbally.
“The caves are large enough for use both as store houses and hideaways, should the Aldebrans launch any drones. There is enough flat ground alongside the river for our tents, and the tree tops along the river will provide a lot of camouflage which we can utilise and improve on, effectively hiding us from any passing drone pass.” Richard declared excitedly.
“It seems perfect, and with time being short I think we should complete our move to this site as soon as possible.” Bishop Marley said. “Mark, do you agree?”
“As you say Bishop, time is short, and this new site certainly fits the bill, in fact it surpasses it, so yes I agree.” Mark replied. “We will need to start each journey to it before the sun comes up, so as to ensure that the ship in orbit cannot follow our vehicles and so learn the position of our new camp.”
Richard now mentioned a thought that had occurred to him on his team`s return journey. “We will need to build temporary bridges to span the many rivers that we will have to cross, and before we do anything else.” Richard declared solemnly.
“Right then Richard, you can get started on them tomorrow morning, how many men will you need to get the job done so as not to unduly delay the move?” Mark asked.
“Thirty five men should do it, and we will need the two larger tracked vehicles plus the chain saws.” Richard replied.
“No problem Richard, we have stored quite enough electricity over the last few days so you can charge up the chain saws, better do it now so as not to delay your departure in the morning, you had better set off at first light, and do not forget to mask the heat emissions coming from the vehicles.” Mark ordered.
As Richard had hoped, their discovery had immediately reduced the tensions that had been building up, and to help this new feeling of hope along Mark decided that the colonists should throw a party, The feast of course consisted mainly of buffalo with a selection of the local vegetables that the colonists had found growing wild around their new home, unfortunately the party ended early as the next morning would be a busy one.
The next morning saw Richard set off into the jungle, and he took with him thirty five men who professed to know something about joinery. He dropped five of them off at the first of the rivers and then move off to the next river, in this way all five rivers and two gorges were spanned in the single day. The bridges would be dismantled as soon as the grand move was completed.
The next morning, and with all of the bridges completed, the time had come for the start of the grand move. The sun had not even risen when the Communications Centre was loaded on to the back of one of the large tracked vehicles, while the other such vehicle took some of the water purifiers. The colony also had ten farm tractors, and they were used to haul wagons loaded with the first batch of colonists along with their possessions. They managed a second trip when dark clouds filled the sky blotting out the sun, ensuring that they would not be seen moving their goods. They took some more of the solar-powered photovoltaic panels and the water purifiers on the two large tracked vehicles, while the electric chainsaws were loaded upon the wagons and hauled to the new base by the tractors.
The next few days saw the balance of the solar-powered photovoltaic panels, more of the food, more colonists and their possessions, taken to the new site, on the final trip the prisoners were transferred to the new base, they were shackled inside two of the wagons that were pulled along by the tractors. Everything that was of value has been stripped from the downed starship, and by the time the move had been completed, the colonists were exhausted and much in need of a rest.
That evening, in the night sky, the colonists saw three new stars, they were moving slowing in the opposite direction to the other stars, but their view of them ended when a heavy rain storm appeared and blocked their view of the three Aldebran starships, which had arrived earlier than the colonists had expected. The next morning, after the storm had finally abated, and had the colonists been nearer to their original camp, they would have seen the three large starships drop through the heavy cloud layer and move across the sky, they were heading for the prairie, the Aldebran reinforcements had arrived.
**********
As soon as the small Aldebran task force had appeared in orbit around New Caledonia, Captain Karin had contacted Commander Oshiro. Oshiro was happy to hear from Karin, to get up to the minute information on the position on P1056, if only because he knew he needed a positive result if he was to enjoy his coming retirement in comfort, for the emperor was personally involved in this mission, anything less would see him reduced to penury.
“Commander, the earthmen have moved all of their tents into the forest, they only appear now when they enter their broken starship, or go hunting the large herds of animals that live upon the prairie.” Karin said. “The only way that I know they are still camped there is because I can see them through our infrared scopes; however, the images are blurred by their many camp fires.”
Oshiro thanked Karin, and when morning arrived over his chosen landing site he took his small task force down through the atmosphere of the planet, having passed through the layer of turbulence, that had dispersed somewhat now, he turned his
scanners upon the earthmen’s last known position, however he saw little as a heavy cloud belt still hung quite low over the area. With two hundred trained soldiers under his command he knew he had little to fear from the colonists, even if they were all armed. Soon they pierced the thick cloud layer, the remnant of the heavy rain storm, and it was then that he got his first real view of the area, however to his annoyance he found that his ship`s scanners still told him nothing.
Unknown to the colonists the task force landed just one quarter mile away from their own broken starship, the Ark, and on landing the first thing Oshiro noticed was that the tents of the earthmen were nowhere in sight. However, he assumed that they had moved further into the forest, in an effort to hide away from his taskforce, a pointless exercise, for with modern technology he was confident of finding and killing them all within the next few days. Even so he did not want to underestimate his enemy, for they had taken out the Special Forces team sent against them. To ensure that his men were not taken by surprise he sent out five armed drones to check out the area, and then to cover his troops when they moved forward. With these in position he sent half of his force towards the last known position of the earthmen, the rest of his command he stationed around the three ships to prevent his enemy from surprising him, as it must have done against Commander Lu-Song and his squad. When his sub-officers reported that there was no trace of the earthmen, he had a squad search the broken starship, to ensure that none of the colonists were hiding there, and then he sent his five drones further afield, to scour the land around them for signs of their enemy. With these tasks in hand, he ordered a further squad of his troopers to set up the tents of his command alongside of the river. Oshiro was beginning to feel very annoyed; the crew of the North Wind had let him down badly, with all of their technology they had allowed the earthmen to disappear.
The Aldebran colonists were only now allowed to leave the confines of the second starship, an aging freighter that would soon be due to be broken up for scrap. They had not been in cryogenic stasis, they had endured the sixteen week trip within the crowded freighter with little exercise and only survival rations to keep them alive. Their release meant that they could stretch their legs, and when one of the drones caught sight of a large herd of buffalo, a number of them were ordered to accompany a squad of troopers, their task was to process the carcases of any animals shot by the military and then to carry the meat back to camp.
The Aldebran colonists had not been supplied with tents, they had to construct whatever shelter that they could create using the small number of axes and hand saws that they had brought with them, and this was what the remaining farmers did. Using these primitive tools they had begun to cut down the trees and shape the timber into usable wood, it was hard work, however they had grown up working with just the basic tools and supplies. They built their shanty homes beneath the trees, later they planned to move out onto the prairie to carve out farms and construct permanent homes.
Commander Oshiro now contacted the North Wind to vent his anger; he also wanted some information from the captain of the starship. “Captain Karin, there appears to be no trace of the earthmen, just where did they go?” He demanded angrily.
“I am sorry Commander, but we cannot help you.” Karin began unhappily, knowing that he and Leander would be severely disciplined because of this. “Last night they were camped beneath the forest trees near to their downed starship, this morning they have simply disappeared without trace. Obviously they moved further into the forest because we have a twenty four hour watch upon the area around their camp, unfortunately, the heavy rain storm prevented our scanners from seeing them move their camp. Had they entered the prairie we would have seen them by now, seen the tracks that they made through the grass, so they must have retreated further into the forest.” Karin explained nervously.
“This is most unsatisfactory, your starship is in need of urgent repairs, you have lost track of the twenty four man task force initially sent here to rid the emperor of these interlopers, and now you have lost the colonists.” Oshiro screamed into the Communications Centre. “When I report this setback to base the emperor will demand to know the reason why his imperial forces cannot rid one of his planets of a few colonists, and in particular what you have been doing since you arrived at P1056.”
With that Commander Oshiro signed off, but he was more than unhappy, his own wellbeing was now at risk, for he knew that this new failure to begin the eradication of the colonists could well rub off on him. He had to locate and destroy the colonists with the minimum delay and with the least loss of life amongst his forces. The fact that the earthmen had moved meant that they had taken some of the small task force prisoner, and that they had made them talk. It was obvious to him that they had been prepared for his arrival, and they had moved using the forest and the rain storm to cover their movements. When the report came in from the squad of troopers sent to search the downed starship, that the ship had been stripped of anything useable, and that the large hold was empty, he realised that the move had actually happened over a number of days. That the North Wind had not noticed it meant that the leader of the earthmen was not a farmer, no, he was a soldier, a tactician, one used to command and one used to succeeding in whatever task he was given, this fact made Oshiro begin to fear for his own future.
The third spacecraft of the small task force to land on the prairie was the salvage vessel, and as soon as the troopers had given them the all clear to start on their task, the crew moved in and around the Ark, as they prepared to cut up the large starship. That task was simple; to accomplish it in the time in which they were required to complete the task was not quite so easy, for the Ark was big.
**********
On the North Wind, Captain Karin looked very grim as he looked at his former captain and asked for advice. “Commander, do you have any ideas as to how we can get ourselves back into the emperor’s good books?” Karin asked Leander.
Karin may now be the captain of the spacecraft, but he felt rather awkward speaking to Leander, luckily Leander was more pragmatic about such things.
“We may have left it too late Captain, but there is only one thing that we can do, take the ship back through the planet`s atmosphere and search every square inch of the forest within a week`s march, further than that would be beyond the capabilities of the earthmen.” Leander replied. “First though you should speak to Li-Ching, so that he can nail everything down that might come apart when we hit the layer of turbulence again, although it seems to be dispersing now, I do not believe that it will affect us this time.”
Karin sighed unhappily, but he still went to talk his chief engineer, as he left the bridge he called back to Leander. “Commander, I need you with me, Li-Ching still sees my promotion as some sort of joke. Which of course it would be in a sane universe, but we do not live in such a universe and in our one the joke is on all of us.”
Yung looked very unhappy when told of their decision, but he too was anxious about the future, for he was the chief engineer, and the responsibility as regards the faulty engine would also fall upon him.
“You may go when you are ready Captain.” Li-Ching said to the space between Karin and Leander. “I had anticipated such an order, either from you or our illustrious emperor, and so Manchu and I have been busy, just try to stay away from the worst of the turbulence”
Karin now contacted Commander Oshiro. “Commander, my crew and I are prepared to attempt to re-enter the planet`s atmosphere and assist you in the search for the colonists.”
Oshiro knew that the crew of the North Wind were endangering themselves, and why. However, he simply thanked Karin, for he did not want any commiserations to be used against him, in case such words should come to the ears of the authorities.
“There is one thing that you will have to do Commander, send up two armed drones to take over our task of preventing the earthmen from using their Communications Centre to contact their planet. If they attempt to do so, the drone operator will have to
zone in on the position of their transmitter and destroy it immediately.” Karin explained.
“I will put that into operation immediately, give us one hour to get the two drones into a high enough altitude above the forest, and then you can leave orbit and land near to our ships.” Oshiro replied, happy to have the extra firepower offered by the North Wind`s Phaser, and the ability to rapidly move his men to an attack position, when and if the occasion presented itself.
The one hour went past quickly on the North Wind, the ship`s engineers rechecking every relay and connection once more, to ensure that the ship was ready for re-entry. When the hour was up the North Wind left its safe orbit and descended through the outer atmosphere of New Caledonia, they encountered some minor turbulence, but nothing that caused them any problems this time. The crew later swore that they sweated buckets of water, however the North Wind finally made it down to the planet`s surface, landing close to the Ark. Once the engine had been shut down, Li-Ching and Manchu went over to the broken Ark and rummaged through the engineering department, they finally found the pieces they needed. The connections made between the Earth devices to those of Aldebran manufacture were tricky, and not ideal, but they sufficed, they had finally repaired their spacecraft and it was now fully functional.
The North Wind took off the next morning and began a grid search of the vast forests of New Caledonia, working in tandem with the drones operated by the troopship, it would be a long tiring task but Karin and Leander hoped that it would lead them to success.
**********
“Bishop, thanks to our search teams we now have a pretty detailed map of the land between us and the Aldebran base camp, I am planning on taking Richard Rider and four of the colonists to make a couple of sorties to harass their salvage team, delay them from cutting up the Ark. We will carry out our attacks at night; we can then disappear into the forest, travelling beneath the thick forest canopy we will be able to return without being traced back to our new camp.” Mark said. He had informed the bishop as a matter of curtesy, he really did not feel the need to ask his permission having been asked to assume command of their forces and organise the defence of colony. He fully expected the bishop to agree with this limited offensive against the Aldebrans; however he found that Bishop Marley did not agree with his plan.