Peter very quickly did a little mathematics. The soldiers were coming four at a time in nine rows making a grand total of thirty-six. He couldn't count the villagers because they were moving about, but he guessed it was about the same number. Without more phasers, or more people who knew how to use phasers, the natives would be totally wiped out.
The soldiers continued to march until they reached the village. Then, they suddenly stopped. They didn't attack. They didn't retreat or lower their defenses. They just stood there.
Enrick had gone inside the ship to see to Raya's needs leaving Peter, Hank, Linda, Lisa, Detrina, and the remaining natives to face the invading army. All of them were surprised that the army suddenly stopped and none of them knew what to expect next.
"They may be waiting for us to make the first move," guessed Detrina.
"What on Earth for?" questioned Linda. "They have every possible advantage."
"They might want to discuss terms of surrender," suggested Peter.
"That sounds more like it," agreed Linda.
When the villagers stopped panicking, a soldier in the back row made an abrupt announcement. It was no ordinary soldier. It was Vondwin who they had just escaped from moments earlier and he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.
"Much to my displeasure, the Ruler has ordered me to take you in alive if at all possible," Vondwin began. "The only way I know of doing that is by taking hostages and demanding as ransom. If you don't turn yourselves in to me immediately, I will personally start killing every primitive I see. If you don't want blood on your hands, I'd advise you to throw down your weapons and return with us to the camp. You have two minutes before we start firing."
The five of them looked at each other wondering what to do. If they wanted to they could run back to their spaceship and be safe from enemy fire, but that wouldn't help the natives. Vondwin was taking advantage of their humanitarianism and their was nothing they could do about it.
"After all the help the natives have given me, I can't desert them," stated Peter.
"They don't care the slightest bit about the natives," declared Hank. "They'll kill them even if we do surrender."
"We have less than two minutes to act," added Lisa.
Peter looked first at the ship, then at the village. Something had to be done.
"One minute!" warned Vondwin.
"My phasers drained anyway," said Peter tossing his gun aside and walking over to meet the enemy soldiers.
"Don't go!" shouted Lisa, but Peter had made up his mind. He was going to surrender to give the others more time.
"The rest of you have thirty seconds," snapped Vondwin. "Your friend has chosen the sensible thing to do."
"I demand that you release all the natives currently in captivity," ordered Peter.
"You are in no position to demand anything," replied Vondwin.
"The others won't come unless you release you prisoners first," Peter insisted.
Vondwin was furious. He couldn't believe Peter had the nerve to tell him what to do.
"Are you surrendering or not?" Vondwin screamed in anger.
"No!" Peter shouted back even louder.
At that moment, one of the natives came into view behind the soldiers. It was the one that had been chained to a tree before Hank and Lisa rescued him. The one who led Peter to the village. He had done so much for them already, no one expected him to be doing what he was doing at that moment.
"You're time is up," Vondwin said evenly. "This is your last chance to surrender."
"As long as you are still holding people hostage, no deals," Peter declared.
He defiantly marched back to rejoin the others. No harm had come to him.
Vondwin would have liked to shoot him, but that would displease the Ruler, and, if that happened, he wouldn't last very long. The Ruler said he wanted the M.W.G.D. officers alive, but he didn't say anything about the natives. It was time to make good his threat of killing all the primitives he saw.
"Attack!" he ordered.
Suddenly, he felt a tremendous pressure about his neck. One of the natives was preparing to strangle him. The other soldiers hesitated. They couldn't shoot the primitive in time to save Vondwin. He could break Vondwin's neck before their shots had any effect.
"Cancel that last order," Vondwin cried out in pain. "Return to the main camp."
The native, unknowingly, had found the Ruler's main weakness. His soldiers were too dependent on their commanders. All of the soldiers left without the slightest hesitation leaving Vondwin alone.
Peter walked up and snatched Vondwin's phaser away from him. It was much more powerful than his old phaser and made a good belated birthday present. At last, the native released his grip allowing Vondwin to run back to the camp. He wouldn't be back for a long time.
TIME : April 18, 2016 8:30 A.M.
PLACE : The village
Help finally arrived. The Ruler's troops release all the Glunzet natives they had in captivity and returned to Altair 7. They weren't ready for a major conflict, yet.
The natives returned to their village where they were given food and medical supplies. It would take some time to repair the damage the Ruler had caused, but, after all the natives had done for them, they had more than earned it.
Peter, who had been in the village the longest with the exception of Enrick and Raya who had injuries of their own the needed to be treated, was put in charge of the repair efforts. The natives trusted him and were more than eager to cooperate.
In spite of how busy he was, Peter found some time to say good bye to Enrick and Raya.
"Thank for all the help you gave me," said Peter. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"You helped us far more," replied Enrick.
"And then some," added Raya.
She was walking again, with difficulty. In about a week, she would be able to resume normal activities. She seemed much more energetic than when Peter first met her.
"Glad to see you continuing your recovery," smiled Peter. "We both owe the natives something for helping us when we needed it most."
"They had a good teacher," declared Enrick.
The two of them entered the second ship belonging to the rescue team. A few minutes later, they were headed for home.
"I'll have to keep in touch with them," Peter thought to himself.
"We'll be joining them shortly," Detrina informed him. "They should be able to continue the rescue efforts without us and we have a birthday party to finish."
TIME : 11:00 A.M.
PLACE : 40,000 km from Glunzet
It took slight longer than Detrina had expected before they were finally able to leave. Whenever they were about to leave, something always seemed to happen, but they were at last on their way back to M.W.G.D. Headquarters.
They had only left the planet five minutes ago, but Peter was already starting to miss his new friends. They didn't understand his language, his purpose, or his way of life, but he had taught them how to defeat the Ruler's soldiers in combat. Such barriers weren't easy to overcome. He had achieved far more than he ever thought he was capable of. He promised himself that he wouldn't underestimate his friends, or himself, in the future.
"You were saying something about a new Earth exhibit," Peter remarked.
"Yes," started Detrina. "They've been working on it for two years. It is based on what you and the others told us about Earth. I thought you'd like to check it over and see if it lives up to your standards."
"I'm sure it will," Peter told her.
TIME : April 19, 2016
PLACE : M.W.G.D. Headquarters
Peter was finally able to celebrate his birthday. In fact he had two new presents, one from Enrick and one from Raya. It was worth the wait. He got everything he wanted and a few things he didn't know he wanted until he found out what they were. However, his favorite present was the one Detrina gave him, a chance to relax on Terni.
His birthday had turned out to be a happy one after all.
Copyright MCMXCI, MCMXCIX
