THE COMMANDER
Part Five
By Arthur
Editor Mattvt.
Authors Note:
I would like to welcome Mattvt to this story, he has very kindly agreed to do the editing for me to correct my habit of typo's, thank you Matt your help will be invaluable.
For those of you that have asked I have a couple of other stories not published on nifty that you may like to read they can be found on the new site at www.justincasescorner.homestead.com and use the link to "Justins Nook" as well you may like to check out the section "Bookcase' that has some fantastic new young writers that I'm sure you will enjoy.
As the time approached for their descent to Earth Cameron ran over the outline of the plan in his head checking time and again that all was ready and that nothing had been left undone, only the advent of the Melecasian presence was the unknown factor but he had left enough leeway for changes should they encounter any problems.
The transport ship was almost ready for lift off as the last of the guards made there way to their seats along the sides and down the center of the passenger bay, Cameron along with his five intimates and the four officers sat in the main cockpit as the humming of the engines began to get louder, not enough to be called loud and blasting but a subtle deeper humming from under the floor, the dark front of the transport became clear as the take off began and Cameron could see again the myriad of stars stretching to infinity before him.
The transport ship was a lot slower than Cameron's own little flier and it would take them almost 12 hours to reach Earth from their hiding place behind Saturn, Cameron sat back and let the adjustable seating set itself around his body as two of his boys got up from theirs coming to him; they began to rub gently on his neck and shoulders with what seemed very delicate fingers for young men to have, they teased his muscles like butterfly wings as they worked up and down his skin.
With a start Cameron opened his eyes as the voice of the pilot came to him, he had not realized he had drifted off to sleep at the touch of the fingers on his neck.
"Besat, we have the landing area in sight, there seems to be no activity down there, shall we proceed?"
"Yes Pilot, slow and careful please."
"Yes Besat."
The craft began to lower over the darkness of the desert near the center of Australia. When it was no more than a hundred meters above the ground it turned slightly and began to make the approach overland to what the Aborigines called "Uluru" or "Ayers Rock" some fifty kilometers away, rising from the flat expanse of the surrounding waste land like a giant beast asleep in the night.
The craft settled onto the desert sands without a sound except for the soft humming of the engines. Soon the passengers were on the ground breathing the chilled night air of the dark land and the craft began to lift off heading back the same way as it had come. It had been on the ground no more than ten minutes and in no time had disappeared into the gloom of night.
"Now is everyone clear on the use of the english languages here, no one must use our own language while we are here."
The answering shout came back clearly in the silence of the still night air.
"Yes Besat."
"Now General Jopty and myself have decided to make the term Besat my last name to save any confusion so if you use it then no one will think anything of it."
"Yes Besat."
"Right lets get moving we have to walk about five kilometers around this rock to the main area for the bus later this morning and we don't want to be late. Are you all ok with the way you have to act now as high spirited school boys like you saw on the vids?"
"Yes Besat."
"Ok let's go."
Ten guards took the lead ahead of Cameron and his group of two officers and intimates with the rest of the guards spreading out behind and to the sides in what to a casual observer was a rag tag group of young boys aimlessly wandering around in the darkness of the shadows of Ayers Rock, a closer inspection would have revealed a very well thought out strategy of defense for the central group of boys as they moved toward the far end of the mountainous Rock.
The group made its way to one of the main viewing areas just before sunup with only minutes to spare before the first bus load of sightseers arrived to view the spectacle of the dawn light over the solidity of the red rock.
The group again was spread out over the surrounding desert, some sitting and watching the offering of this nature's spectacle that thousands on earth would never see, others seemed to be standing around aimlessly looking about, practicing to twirl their metallic batons in their hands with casual ease, had the arriving visitors taken any notice of the group of boys they would have seen that four of the small group of twelve sitting near the center of roaming boys had longer staffs than the rest and were not moving around but standing closer to one boy in particular.
Cameron sat and watched as the sun pushed aside the darkness and then with a show of brilliant oranges, violets and reds, its bright daylight eye rose to bath the desert in colours not seen by any of the boys from the ship before, each sunrise here was different from the last and the gasps around Cameron from the boys and guards gave him a tingling feeling as they saw it for the first time in their long lives.
An officer leaned closer to Cameron.
"Besat this has to be the most beautiful sight I've ever seen, no wonder they wanted to preserve this planet and save it from the Melcasians."
"Yes I never realized before how truly beautiful Earth could be."
Cameron's mood was broken by a deep and drawling voice that had a strange twang to it as though the person was talking through his nose.
"Hey, you the boys from the school thing?"
One of the officers jumped to his feet and in a slightly accented voice answered.
"Yes Sir."
"Who's the guy in charge, Mr. uhm...Beezart I think his name is?"
"Oh Besat, yes this is him Sir."
Cameron got to his feet followed by the others of his group as the guards began to come closer from where they had been standing around looking at the views.
"Jeez, you're just a kid, where's the adults?"
Cameron spoke up with the story he and Jopty had made up for just such an occasion.
"We're all from outstations, our parents trust us so the older ones look after the younger ones, they wanted us to do this on our own, they said we won the competition on our own so they could trust us to be alone to take the trip."
"What all of you?"
"Yes Sir, where are our busses Sir we can't be late for the connection to Sydney."
"Oh yeah sure kid, over there the three red ones."
"Thank you Sir, ok guys lets go."
The driver watched as without a word the horde of boys began to head for the busses parked up on the road, he watched with interest at the almost military precision of the group but he knew that could not be as they were all to young to have been in any military unit, the oldest looked about 18 and the youngest looked no more than 14 so he was sure they had not been old enough for the forces when the Indonesians had started their expansionist war in Asia ten years before.
The boys got into the busses in a very quiet and orderly fashion; there was no shoving or playing around, this group of boys thought the driver to himself, was going to be a pleasure to have on the bus for the long drive to Adelaide if they stay as well mannered as they were at the moment.
The only thing the driver thought a little strange was that the leader was always in the center of a small group of the same boys all the time and that at least five of the young boys seemed to dote on him every time he moved or spoke.
Only the occasional kangaroo or flight of desert birds broke up the journey through the flatness of the desert while heading for water and it wasn't long before most of the boys had nodded off to sleep in their seats except for the four guys with the longer batons, they continued to sit close to the young guy that was in charge of the group and never closed their eyes or moved from their seats for the whole long trip.
By the time they all arrived in Adelaide the sun was high up in the sky and the heat was well into the 40 degree Celsius range, the boys were hot and sweaty as the three red busses pulled to a halt in front of the airport to let the boys dismount and make their way into the cooling cover of the air conditioned waiting room while Cameron went to settle their tickets and arrange for some cold drinks and a good meal for his crew.
The mood lightened in the group as they realized that no one took any notice of the boys apart from casually and that the most dangerous part, the landing, had gone smoothly and without notice of any government agencies, the boys relaxed as they drank and ate for the first real time that day, Cameron was seated at a table and was not allowed to move as his intimates ran around getting what ever was needed for him.
The airport was to busy with everyone bustling and hurrying to catch their flights to take much notice of the special attention given to Cameron so he let it pass for now although he would have to remind them to be a little less conspicuous in the future when they were in the hotel.
When their flight was called the group set off as before, no shoving or playing and they could hear the odd comments from the adults at how well mannered they all were in not causing any noise or disruption to the normal running of the airport unlike most boys would do.
A little more than an hour later and they were flying low over the red iron roofs that spread out for miles over the flat plains on which Sydney had been built three hundred years ago, forty minutes later they were all in the new busses being taken to their hotel for the night to rest up for the next leg of the journey to Nuie.
Cameron had impressed on the guards to not all arrive for dinner at the same time but to wander down in small groups so as not to overload the capacity of the dining room to handle so many boys, as he sat with his small group a blue flash came into his head from 'Jason'
"Besat, there are three Melecasians in the eating room next to yours, I'm going to increase your field, I don't think they know you are here but it would be better to be prepared."
"Thank you Jason."
Cameron felt an increase in the heat around him as the field strengthened, the four guards looked at him and then straightened up and looked about the area, they had seen the flash of colour under the fringe of his hair that covered his three symbols of office, Cameron shook his head slightly to indicate to them that all was ok for the moment but they only appeared to relax as their eyes roved over the room for the rest of the meal.
At the international airport building the next day, the hostess asked if all they had for luggage were the small knapsacks on their shoulders, to which Cameron nodded saying that it was all they needed as their other luggage had been sent on ahead when they stopped to see Ayers Rock the previous day, the hostess seemed relieved not to have to chase around looking for lost luggage and took them down to the loading door.
Their arrival in Auckland was hardly noticed as the whole country of New Zealand was now a part of Australia and had been declared a world heritage sight so it was only open for tourism and all other forms of business not associated with the industry were now based in Australia so that the country catered only to the visitors and preserved its amazingly lush bush lands and clean blue rivers for the enjoyment of those cramped into the large and dirty cities of the world.
The flight to Nuie took off an hour after they had landed at Auckland so they did not have to wait for long and they had nearly the whole plane to themselves as the once popular holiday island had become to small for most of the travelers to go to and it was for this reason that Cameron had finally decided to open their base there.
The group began to feel the excitement of the end of their journey now only a few short hours away and then they could fully relax and take time to get used to this strange planet they now found themselves on.
The sun glinted on the blue ocean below them like small white gem stones as the plane lowered itself for a landing on what was going to become their home for as long as they needed to be here and to accomplish the plan that had been set out before them.
As they flew over the Island for the first time they could make out the small groups of thatch topped huts that were dotted around the Island, each seemed to be a small icon of independence within the over all set up of this small Island treasure.
After landing they were met by a horde of small mini busses to take them to one of the only two hotels still operating on the Island and Cameron noticed that some of the busses were a little the worse for wear due to the salt laden air from the ocean just a short walk away from where they now all stood.
Cameron had asked Jopty to book out both hotels for them to use until they had constructed their own accommodation and there fore stopping any unexpected visitors to the Islands until they were settled in to their new home, although Nuie had earlier been administered by the old Government of New Zealand it had eventually reverted to total local control when New Zealand had joined with the republic of Australia to form a stronger Asia Pacific alliance. Now the Island had very little to offer the rest of the industrial world as it was financially in a very poor state so Cameron had hoped that by using it as their base it would not only be safer for them it would also do some good where it was needed the most.
After settling into the two hotels Cameron gave orders for all the boys to relax and go out and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of this little paradise that they were going to call home, the local population was almost over friendly and chatted to the boys, inviting them into their homes for a meal or to talk which made them all for the first time feel like they were a part of a family and the openness of the people only strengthened that idea.
Cameron sat on the edge of the white sand with his feet feeling the lap of minute waves as they tickled his toes, the sun setting over the horizon as the night began to make itself known, his five intimates by his side and the four guards a little further off now feeling that they could relax just a little at the end of the journey.
As 'Jason' continued to download information for Cameron he was startled when he heard a strange voice behind him.
"S'cuse me Sir?"
Cameron turned his head to look at the holder of that voice, he saw a young Island boy about 14 years old wearing nothing but the usual length of brightly, although slightly worn cloth around his slim hips, the boy was the same as all the Islanders in that he had that golden skin and flashing white teeth but he looked a little thinner than he had seen with most of the others from here.
"Yes."
"Is it your parents going to open factory here?"
"No, we've been sent to do it, why?"
"I wanna work Sir."
"Do you, aren't you a bit young to be looking for work?"
"Don't know Sir."
"Why not?"
"Don't know how old I am Sir."
"I think you must know, what about your parents they must know?"
"Haven't got none Sir."
"No parents, and you can call me Cameron ok?"
"No Si....ah Cameron, I don't have none."
"Well how do you live here then?"
"I made a hut on the beach, see just down there, and I catch fish and get some vegetables from a small garden I got in the bush."
"What sort of work you looking for then?"
"Anything..ah..Cameron."
"Well most of the factory will be automatic, is there something you think you are extra good at?"
"Well the people here say I sing real nice and I can entertain visitors with dancing local style."
"Can you, well how about singing something for me now?"
"Yes Cameron, what do you like to hear?"
"Something soft and soothing, we had a lot of traveling this last two days what have you got that will make me relax?"
The boy smiled down at Cameron, his eyes gleaming and a beautiful open smile came over his face as he began to sing in the local language, the soft words and the unusual melody running over his lips as the lilting tune came from deep in the heart with a feeling that Cameron had never seen in anyone before, the words didn't seem to matter much, it was the feeling that the boy put into the tune that struck a cord with Cameron as he lay back and listened to that sweet voice, it seemed to take him away and he felt as though he was floating above the surrounding azure sea watching the birds and fish play in the water, the song was hypnotic in its simplicity yet drove so many images into Cameron's head he thought he was in another world.
The song ended and Cameron sat there stunned by its beauty, he was surrounded by total silence and when he looked around he could see every boy in the large group was as smitten by the young boys song as he was, only the occasional lapping of a wavelet broke the silence as they took in their feelings.
Cameron looked up at the small figure.
"Th...th...that was the most beautiful song I've ever heard, you truly have a gift."
The smile on the boys face never wavered as he looked at Cameron with something a little more than friendliness.
"What's your Name?"
"Matteus, Cameron."
"Well Matteus, if you want a job would you like to come and work with me and my five friends here, they sort of look after me and I would really love to hear your songs around me when ever I could."
"Can I really, just to sing for you?"
(Chuckle)"Well I would like to see you dance later as well, if it's as good as your singing then I think you should be a part of my household, so what do you think?"
The boy looked again at Cameron and without a word threw himself into Cameron's lap, his arms going tightly around his neck and his face buried into Cameron's shoulder.
"Yes, oh Yes thank you Cameron."
Startled by the reactions of the boy Cameron could only smile at the bundle of bone and skin in his lap, he looked at his intimates and saw all the smiles of approval from them and the guards as they still tried to get the haunting beauty of the song out of their heads.
This had been, so Cameron thought, a great way to start their venture,
'Besat, I recorded his song and played it here for the others still on board, there are so many tearful eyes here Besat, it was truly a beautiful song from such a young boy.'
'Yes Jason it was indeed that, when he sleeps tonight I want you to do a check on him and see if he needs anything to bring him to full health, he looks a little undersized to me and see if you can determine his age?'
'It will be as you wish Besat.'
'Thank you Jason.'
Cameron closed his arms around the bundle in his lap and smiled as they all sat and watched the last of the sun die into the Western horizon of their new home.
To Be Continued: