Larson and Marley both agreed that it might work, so they had Lu-Song brought to the bridge of the downed starship, the setting Mark believed would put the commander at his ease. After introducing everyone to Lu-Song, Mark meant to take Lu-Song to task, but before he could do so Captain Larson took him aside for a quiet word.
“Mark, I think you might have been correct regarding the risk of one of our people seeking revenge against the Aldebrans, I have just heard that one of the widows had to be escorted back to her tent, she was stopped by Chief Engineer Peterson just as she was lining up her husband`s Phaser rifle on one of the tents.”
“Is she likely to try again Captain?” Mark asked.
“I do not believe so, she broke down in tears when she reached her tent and two of the other women are now taking care of her, they promised me that they would stay with her.”
Mark now returned to speak to Lu-Song; however before he could begin to interrogate him he was interrupted again, this time by Lu-Song who had a request. “Will you please untie me, or are the four of you afraid that I may attack you.” Lu-Song said contemptuously.
“You will stay tied up for the moment Commander, you are a criminal, worse you are a cowardly criminal, you attacked a peaceful colony of Earth, killing innocent men and women and without any formal declaration of war.” Mark replied angrily. “Tell me why we should not have you and your men executed as space pirates or terrorists?” Mark asked angrily.
“Earth was told that not only was this sector of space claimed by the people of Aldebra, but also this planet. It is you who are the transgressors, not my squad of soldiers; we are here only because of your invasion.” Lu-Song responded proudly.
“You arrived on this planet at almost the same time as we did, Aldebra is at least twelve weeks away from this planet, you must have known of our intention before you left on your mission, why did your government not make use of diplomatic channels to make your protest known, why resort to cold blooded murder?” Mark replied angrily.
“That is a question you must ask my government, I am only a soldier so I am not in possession of all of the facts, or the reasons behind their decision, but reasons they must possess, I assure you.” Lu-Song replied shakily, for only now had he considered this point, and it bothered him, especially after all of his terrible nightmares and fears for his soul.
“Commander Lu-Song.” Mark began and his three friends were now alerted to the actual beginning of the interrogation. “We know that your government has despatched a troopship full of reinforcements to this planet, it seems that they did not trust your squad to finish the job.” Mark said. “We are currently making plans to receive them; I regret to say that your cell may become a little crowded.”
Lu-Song was inwardly shocked to hear Mark mention the reinforcements, but outwardly he attempted to stay calm, however, his four interrogators did notice his eyes react to the statement. His mind was still in a turmoil as he tried to think of a reasonable answer to Mark`s question regarding the non-use of diplomatic channels, that and the fact that had been eating away at him for the few hours, that his emperor`s order had destroyed the mission and caused the death of many of his men. However, he attempted to hide this away in the depths of his mind as he tried to ridicule what Mark had said about the coming troopship.
“That is nonsense, my team was considered more than adequate to deal with a ship full of colonists, but of course my government did not realise that it was in fact an invasion force. They did not know that all of your men were armed, and that they were led by a senior strategist, which is the reason for my defeat. However, I do wonder why you had women with you, was it to make your story all the more believable? Any responsibility for casualties amongst their numbers must lie with your own people; to send them to a planet where the chances of hostilities were almost certain was in my opinion criminal.” Lu-Song replied sulkily.
It should be noted that on Aldebra, women’s lib had never happened and was unlikely to in the near future given the ruling classes of the planet.
“Commander Lu-Song, we also know about the salvage vessel that is coming to cut up our downed starship, and that it will dispose of it within one of the planet`s oceans, I assume that this was meant to confuse our authorities? That is another act of cowardice, for you obviously do not want Earth to discover that you murdered two hundred colonists and the crew of the starship.” Mark said accusingly. “Making rubbish of your assertion that we began the war while your people are innocent.”
“This is rubbish, it would be impossible to dispose of so large a ship in the time allowed.” Lu-Song replied shakily while ignoring the latter declaration made by Mark Summers.
His reaction to this second accusation had been more noticeable, his eyes had registered his alarm even as he rubbished the idea. He was near to having a complete breakdown; it would take a miracle to prevent it happening if the Aldebran task force succeeded in murdering all of the colonists.
“Commander Lu-Song, we also know that your planet is sending colonists of its own in yet another attempt to cover up the murders, yet they will, according to your own words, be coming to a war zone, why did your emperor choose to put innocent people in harm’s way?” Mark asked accusingly.
“You appear to know much more about my people`s plans than I do, why do you not tell me, so that I too will know.” Lu-Song replied sulkily.
Mark`s questions had moved Lu-Song towards the point of no return, soon he would collapse under the stresses that even now were tearing his soul apart, as it was he was slumped forward in his chair, no longer looking like a veteran with many victories under his belt. The way that he had answered all of the points had told his accusers that all the trooper had said was undoubtedly fact; reinforcements were even now on the way to New Caledonia.
The temperature had been falling ever since Mark had risen that morning, now, far above the bridge where the interrogation was progressing quite satisfactory, the two weather fronts collided and a freezing cold snow storm began, so Mark had their Aldebran prisoners brought back inside the broken starship and locked up within their original prison cell, it made guarding them much easier, especially now that even the weather had turned against them. The Aldebrans would be cold but the colonists would also have to deal with that, so Mark decided not to mention it to Bishop Marley but to allow them to suffer, a minor punishment for all of the death and destruction that they had caused. The snow storm continued through the day, and into the next, making the colonists’ future look all the bleaker.
**********
The North Wind was still in the same position above P1056, and its crew hearing nothing from Lu-Song, were at a loss at how to proceed, to venture down through the planet`s atmosphere in an attempt to locate the soldiers could easily cause their ship to crash now that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Commander Leander knew that the Aldebran forces had time on their side, for Leander had answered two calls from Earth, masquerading as one of the starship`s crew, and so he had delayed Earth from finding out that events had taken a turn for the worse. Commander Leander felt that to wait for the troopship to arrive without advising them of the current situation down on the planet would earn them the anger of their emperor. For this reason he was trying to persuade an indecisive Karin to call Aldebra and tell them of their situation, that they feared that all of the soldiers had either been killed or taken prisoner.
“Captain, Aldebra has already broken radio silence so it matters not if we contact Aldebra, especially if we contact them by way of a coded transmission sent in a tight beam, and we can also scramble the message. There is every chance that Earth will never get to know of it, and if one of their spies in our sector of space does intercept it, they will not be able to read the message.” Leander urged having faith in his peoples technology.
Karin finally accepted his advice, and he immediately sent a message to their headquarters on Aldebra, he also sent a copy to the troopship so that the commander was fully updated as to the situatio
n on P1056 before he arrived. When his superiors received his transmission they decided to do nothing, from the message they knew that the soldiers on the troopship had been updated, and if they told their emperor, well he just might arrest General Yang and Admiral Lou-Wing for using an incompetent team to spearhead the attack.
General Yang had also been thrown into a pit of despair, for the fate of his only son was unknown, but whether captured or dead, his future did not look too bright. He finally decided to send a message to Commander Oshiro, the veteran soldier who had been charged with completing this mission, he asked him to find out the fate of his son, and to either free him from the earthmen or avenge his death, and to let him know immediately his son`s fate was discovered. For a mission that demanded that there be no communications of any kind, the leaders of Aldebra, from the emperor down, sure had a funny way of going about it.
On the North Wind all they could do was scan the encampment to ensure that no attempt was made to send a message asking for help, should the colonists manage to repair the damaged communications array. It was only now that Leander mentioned to Karin that he thought that the colonists might have a second Communications Centre aboard the ship, one meant to be used by the colonists when the starship had departed. Thinking that Leander was probably correct in his belief, Karin decided that they would have to take it in turns to ensure that the colonists did not use it to contact Earth; if they did then they would have to chance using their Phaser to destroy the Communications Centre.
Chapter Six
Mark Summers is put in Command
On New Caledonia the colonists finally had time to think, for the snow storm had stopped them from doing any of the things that were necessary to their wellbeing. Bishop Marley was planning to have the colony`s Communications Centre unpacked as soon as the weather improved, he wanted to set it up and send an updated transmission to Earth. He would request that a space cruiser was immediately sent to the planet to protect them against the Aldebran troopers who he now knew were already on the way. At best speed the cruiser should get to the planet within eight weeks, Marley hoped that news of it despatch might cause the Aldebrans to pull back from what could easily turn into a full scale planetary war. Mark agreed with this, however, he had one reservation, and he mentioned it to the bishop.
“Bishop, the Aldebran starship took out the Ark`s Communications Centre with a single Phaser bolt, they used the same vessel to send a number of energy bolts at my team after we had attacked their soldiers. If we had not moved off they would have killed us, so they are extremely competent.” Mark began. “The vessel may be in need of a space dock, however, it might still be up there, waiting for the small task force that the Aldebrans have despatched. If you attempt to operate the Communications Centre, they might choose to use their Phaser again, to stop you from contacting Earth.” Mark warned.
“I must admit Mark that that thought had not occurred to me and of course you are right.” Bishop Marley said gloomily. “Mark, are you suggesting that we do nothing at all, that is not what I expected, not after the way you took command of the situation when their soldiers launched their attack on us.” Bishop Marley replied surprised to hear such words coming from Mark.
“Not at all Bishop.” Mark replied with a smile. “What I am suggesting is that we find a cave in which to set up the Communications Centre, and thereby protect it and our people from an attack by the Aldebran vessel.” Mark replied “And even if they should attempt to stop your transmission, we might still have sufficient time to send our SOS before they bring the cave down around our ears. I realise that we only have a small amount of time in which to find such a cave, if we are to stop their troopship from arriving, but I believe that it might be wise to initiate such a search as soon as the weather lets up.”
“You`re the expert in such matters Mark, would you go ahead and organise everything.” Bishop Marley replied a little happier, he had hoped to send a message as soon as the Communications Centre had been set up, now he knew he would have to wait until a safe haven was found for it.
“Bishop, I also think that we should use the time available to us to find somewhere well away from here to set up a new camp site, and one that is within the forest would suit us best, then if the Aldebran soldiers do land on the planet, they will not find us sitting here waiting for them to kill us.” Mark advised.
Bishop Marley nodded gloomily. “Of course Mark, that makes a lot of sense, I knew that we were going to be very busy once when we landed here, but instead of setting up a new colony, we are using the time to find a place in which to hide away.”
“Just look on it as exploring our new world, finding out what treasures it possesses.” Mark said in an attempt to cheer up Bishop Marley.
“I will Mark, but first we have the burials to attend to, when the snow storm finally ends, that is another task that I had not thought I would have to carry out, not this early anyway.” Bishop Marley said gloomily.
The colonists who had been injured in the Aldebran attack were all housed in a make shift hospital set up within the starship`s half empty hold, thankfully the colonists had brought a more than adequate supply of medical equipment and stores, and so the injured were slowly recovering from their Phaser burns. A large number of electric heaters had also been brought along, one for each couple, and they used some of these to keep their wounded friends warm, although their electrical supply was extremely limited by the snow storm raging around them. Mark even sent two of the heaters to the Aldebran prisoners, although they were used to roughing it, it seemed less than Christian to make them suffer unnecessarily, especially the two troopers who were wounded.
The snow storm finally moved away from them during the early morning, and when the colonists awoke they found a warm sun rising above the far horizon. During that day the sun blazed down upon the snow, which quickly melted away, and by the next morning little was left to show that it had ever been there.
They had to bury fifteen of the colonists, eleven men and four women, Bishop Marley had decided on a site for their cemetery, and the fifteen graves had already been dug. They also had sixteen Aldebrans to bury, their graves being dug by the six fit prisoners, with the help of the colony`s mechanical digger, who were also allowed to attend the burials. They were then led back to their large cell aboard the downed starship, it had been the ship`s mess, now all but one door had been welded shut, and the final door had been fitted with a lock to ensure that the Aldebrans did not escape. Two guards were always on duty, at the moment it was the duty of Joe Finney and Martin Joyce, they had been posted with orders not to enter the cell under any circumstances, should they hear anything from within the cell they were to call Mark, who would attend to whatever was troubling the prisoners.
Lu-Song did make one attempt at escape, he had one of his injured men feign illness, and called upon the guards to help him, following orders they sought out Mark, who arrived with three more men all armed with Phaser rifles, and of course the colonist`s doctor and nurse.
“Martin open the door and then step out of the line of fire, I do not want them using you as a shield, if this is a trick.” Mark ordered fully expecting it to be a ruse to enable the prisoners to escape.
The door opened, and Mark saw four men bending over one of the two injured Aldebrans, there was no sign of the other two Aldebran troops.
“What is the problem Commander?” Mark asked.
Lu-Song looked through the open door; he only saw Mark and Martin Joyce. “This man is dying; he needs medical attention, now.” Lu-Song snarled.
“When your other two men show themselves, then we can talk about it, but not until then.” Mark replied.
Lu-Song immediately realised that things were not going as planned. “Sub-Officer Yang, Trooper Chryste, show yourselves, the earthmen are worried about eight unarmed Aldebrans.” Lu-Song sneered.
The two troopers moved away from either side of the doorway and stood in the opening, Mark could almost hear their minds working, both
men looking out at the earthmen and wondering if they should try to overpower them. Given the chance Mark reckoned that they were more than capable of making a reasonable attempt.
“Lu-Song, take your three troopers and hug the far wall, these two troopers.” Mark said indicating the troopers at the doorway. “They can bring the trooper who is ill out here, our doctor is satisfied that neither of your injured men have life threatening injuries, so moving him will not harm him in any way.”
Lu-Song carried on with the charade and obeyed Mark`s orders. He and the other three troopers hugged the far wall, their postures indicating that they were ready to rush forward at any time, while the nearest two troopers assisted their injured comrade to leave the cell. However, Mark`s eyes never left the two troopers, or the injured one.
“Doctor, Nurse, please stay back until the two troopers are back in their cell.” Mark ordered.
The two troopers looked about them, they saw six Phaser rifles aimed at them and decided to retreat back into the cell, whereupon Martin Joyce slammed it shut. Mark waited until the doctor had checked out his patient and pronounced him healthy, then Mark dragged the trooper to his feet, and dragged him across to the cell door. He nodded to Martin Joyce who opened the doorway, which now had five Phaser rifles trained upon it, and then he pushed the trooper back into his cell.
“Commander, there is nothing wrong with your man, apart from the injury to his shoulder, try that again and I will shoot all of you. You`re murderers, and now you’re a burden to us, when your troops arrive we will be forced to take you with us, do not give me an excuse to rid myself of an unwanted burden.” Mark warned Lu-Song, who had been looking into Mark`s cold angry eyes and what he saw made him believe that death was nearby, for an unwary Aldebran. Even Doctor Tattersall believed that Mark would carry out his threat, which, depending upon the circumstances, he just might. As for Martin Joyce and Joe Finney, either man would have happily volunteered to assist him in such a task, the deaths of their friends coupled to the Aldebran threat meant that the colonists were stressed out, and some amongst them had even called for the prisoners to be executed as murderers rather than spend time guarding them.