Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:01:02 +1200
From: arthur <rochopa@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: The Commander part 5

					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: