Chapter 3: The Festival

*****

Jack felt like his binoculars had become part of his own face.

Staring out at the distant shore of land, Jack took in every feature as Task Force 21 hovered just off the coast. Tropical foliage occupied most of his view as did the few waves lapping gently at the shoreline. From their position, he couldn’t see any signs of habitation.

“Jack, do you want to go any closer?” asked the lovely brunette at his side. Lt. Commander Abigail Wainwright rested her hand on his wrist as she waited for his response.

“Yes, just a little bit closer. I can’t see anything but trees at this distance,” said Jack. “Not too close though. We know nothing about these waters or the depth of the ocean floor. I don’t want these ships getting beached accidentally.”

“Aye, Jack,” said Abigail with a smile as she issued the orders. The ship began to lurch forward and the waves right in front of the bow gently parted for the steel behemoth to pass through. They were nearly a mile from shore but despite the lower visibility, Jack could see each member of the bridge watching intently. Their first sighting of the lands that made up the Fourth Vector carried a certain mystery for all of them. It also made them the only people alive who had seen the Vector and could still talk about it.

Just behind the Destiny lurked the other ships of the task force—the light cruiser Valiant and the destroyer Tiger. They followed cautiously behind the Destiny, using the wake of the ship to cut the same course. Ultimately, the commanding officers of both ships were missing from their respective posts, with Luke Ravencross and Vicky Carter standing not far from Abigail. Jack wanted them present for the initial reconnaissance of land.

Jack reached over to nudge Luke. “What do you think? Doesn’t look like the fire-sprouting hell from childhood stories, eh?”

Luke shrugged. “Not yet. But then again, we just got here.”

As the Destiny drifted closer to land, Jack began to make out some of the features of the land in front of him. The small beach that seemed to go on for miles didn’t look very wide, only containing a narrow strip of land no more than a few hundred feet across before the thick layer of trees took over. When they were close enough, some more features of the land in front of him became more visible. For one, Jack saw what looked like a stunning waterfall that opened right into the sea. Beyond the waterfall, the land pulled inward to contain a sheltered bay about a mile across.

“Put us a little closer to that inlet there,” ordered Jack and the Destiny began to slip inside the marvelous, U-shaped bay. On the narrow side of the bay, the forest pulled back quite a ways from the shore showing open fields of grass.

“Looks like a perfect spot for a city,” said Abigail, noticing the same spot.

“That it does. Too bad there doesn't seem to be anyone here,” said Jack.

“We really haven’t seen much beyond this stretch yet. Maybe we should see how big this land really is. Follow the coast for as long as we can?” she suggested.

“I like that. Let’s steam just off the coast and see what we can find. I want everyone to keep their eyes on the shore. Let me know if you see anything or anyone.”

“Aye, sir,” came the response from the assembled officers.

For the next couple hours, the Destiny continued along the east coast of the land. Around midafternoon, the coast began to pull back and the task force turned southwest to follow the land. At one point, the crew spotted a broad channel heading further inland. Unsure of whether it was a river or something more, Jack made note of its position in order to come back another time. Eventually, the coast doubled back around, and soon the ships were headed north along the west side of the land.

“It appears to be an island. Unless this is a very odd-shaped peninsula,” said Abigail.

“She’s a lot longer than she is around,” said Jack. “We steamed down the coast for two and a half hours but only along the south side for no longer than twenty-five minutes.”

“The island appears to be shaped like a sausage,” said Abigail with a giggle.

“You would know your way around a sausage,” whispered Jack, causing her to blush.

“I never heard you complaining,” she shot back.

“Nor will you!”

The journey north along the coast lasted around the same as the journey south on the other side. By the time they figured out it was indeed an island and not a peninsula, the sun was beginning to set on the other side. Along the entire way, there appeared to be no signs of habitation. Even the few natural spots where a settlement might develop remained empty. Jack considered the island to most likely be void of intelligent life, and once the sun had finally set, he gave the order for them to anchor in place just off the eastern coast.

That evening, Jack had all the division officers meet in his headquarters to decide the plan for the morning. All of them shuffled into the cabin while Jack displayed a map of the island sketched from their earlier reconnaissance.

“We’ll stop here for the night. Have the sentries on their guard for most of the evening hours, and I want to know about any disturbances,” said Jack. “From what we’ve seen, I’m not expecting much but I don’t want to put our guard down just yet.”

“If this is the Fourth Vector, I don’t know what everyone was grumbling about,” muttered Luke under his breath, earning a giggle from Vicky.

“We’ll see tomorrow if there’s anything more to this island. And remember, we’ve only explored a small portion of the Vector. There’s still a whole mass of ocean we haven’t touched yet,” said Jack.

“What are we going to do? Do you want to explore inland?” asked Abigail.

Jack nodded. “We have to be sure even if there’s nothing here. I plan on taking a platoon of Marines ashore, and we’ll see if we find anything interesting.”

“Maybe we can stop at that waterfall on the way back. I’m sure the crew won’t object to some beach time,” said Abigail with a grin.

Jack chuckled. “Only if the island is safe. Last thing you want is to be attacked when you’re putting on your sunscreen.”

“That depends on what kind of ‘attack’ it is,” said Anna with a mischievous smile.

Both sisters shared a knowing look. Jack wisely ignored the comment instead of indulging them. He knew that road would lead to trouble.

“Jack, will you let me come ashore with the marines? I’d like a chance to stretch my legs on dry land,” asked Luke.

Jack shook his head. “No way, not with your arm like that.” Luke grunted and held his arm sling aloft. It had just been over two weeks since their recapture of the Tiger during the attempted mutiny. Luke had taken a bullet straight through the muscle on his forearm. Despite still being able to hold a rifle, Jack didn’t want to take any chance until the man was healed.

“This damn arm,” muttered Luke. “You guys get to have all the fun, and I’m here stuck on the ship.”

“You’re the one who had to go and get shot,” said Jack with a laugh, clapping his friend on the back.

“It was a lucky shot for that bastard.”

“I believe they call those million-dollar wounds,” said Vicky, giggling along with the rest of the group.

“I’d give every single cent of that million dollars just to be able to see some action again,” said Luke.

“Be careful what you wish for,” said Jack with a chuckle. “We have this giant stretch of ocean to explore, and we have the Occitanians on shoot-to-kill status. We’ll all have plenty of action before this mission is over.”

“Oh, all right fine. You all have fun without me and I’ll just watch over the ship,” he said with a pout, sitting down in his chair.

“It can’t be all that bad, Luke. Besides, I may just make it worth your while,” said Kim Cross, throwing a subtle wink to the commander, which was enough to make him sit up and clear his throat.

“Well, now that we know what you two will be doing, I’d say we can get on with this mission,” said Abigail with a laugh as the two of them went red in the face. Luke took a few more playful slaps to the back before attention resumed to the map in front of them.

The rest of the meeting went by without any further distractions. It had been decided at first light to explore the broad channel closer to the shore and then to launch the marine expedition around midmorning. Once all the orders were given, the officers began to leave to return to their respective ships or their own quarters.

“Sounds like we have a solid plan. I’ll talk to you all tomorrow,” announced Vicky as she left the room with a quick wave. Following in her footsteps were Luke and Kim to begin their return to the Valiant.

“Jack, how many men do you want on this expedition tomorrow?” asked Greg.

“So far, let’s go with a couple platoons. That should be enough for now,” said Jack.

“Roger that! See you in the morning.”

“Night, Jack,” said Abigail with a sultry smile as the other division heads filed out as well.

By that point, just about all the officers had left his quarters. All except one. Anna remained sitting in her seat, watching as everyone left. When the last person filed out, her eyes locked on Jack.

“I like the plan for tomorrow,” she said with a purr. “Although I'd like to know what my role is going to be during all of this?”

Jack let slip a grin and walked over to stand right in front of her. “I was thinking we’d get your role out of the way tonight, instead of tomorrow.”

Anna bit her lip and glanced down to his body before returning to his eyes. “And what might that particular role be, sir?”

“I envisioned a very active role for you, Anna. Something that would be exceptionally . . . vigorous,” said Jack.

Anna let slip a small giggle. “Vigorous is good. I absolutely adore vigorous.” Her hands reached out and grabbed his trousers, giving them a subtle tug. They yielded easily, making a small noise as the buckle hit the floor. “I’m glad to see that you’re already well-stimulated, sir," she said while licking her lips.

“Catching glimpses of you during this entire meeting had me ready for action,” said Jack with a smile. It was true. Every time his eyes caught hers, Anna would do a subtle gesture to catch his attention. Usually a small move like a wink or a lip bite, she made it very obvious what kind of activity she had in mind. She was so distracting that Jack found himself having to struggle to remember what he wanted to tell the other officers.

Anna's hands began to move to the buttons on her jacket. In a slow, deliberate manner, she slipped one button loose at a time. "I was just hoping I wouldn't be too distracting."

When her fingers reached midway down her chest, Jack could see a flash of red underneath. "It looks like you came prepared for our little meeting, Anna."

Anna let slip the last button and gently pulled her jacket open. Her tits were beautifully encased in a red, lace bra. Just beyond the lace, Jack could see the pair of tiny moles on her flesh. It was a tiny imperfection that made her all the more genuine and enticing.

She gave him an innocent smirk as his cock brushed against the cup of the red lace. "I know how much you love this bra, sir. I see how you throb at the very sight of it."

She wasn't kidding. Jack was so achingly stiff that his cock had assumed a purplish color as the veins popped out the sides.

Before he could respond, Anna's hands slipped behind her back. "Don't worry, sir. I have the perfect place you can put that monster." She unclasped her bra and let it fall to the floor. It seemed he wasn't the only one that was hard. Her nipples were completely erect, showing a clear excitement at the impending events. Jack reached forward and gently tweaked one of them, feeling the soft flesh between his fingers.

Anna gasped as soon as he made the touch. "I love how you manhandle me. There's no better feeling than your hands on my body."

"Just my hands?" Jack asked as he then leaned forward and took her nipple into his mouth. He sucked on it gently as Anna's hand went to the back of his neck and held him in place. Letting it slip out of his mouth, he teased it with his tongue several times, flicking it and enjoying the feel of her in his mouth.

Finally, she pulled away from him. "Let me show you what I had in mind." Anna wet her fingers with her mouth and then used it to coat his cock. She went even further, slipping the entire tip in her mouth and being very generous with her saliva. Once she felt like he was slickly coated, she reached her hands around to grab his ass and pull him closer.

Jack's cock naturally slipped right into the valley between her tits. The warmth of her body quickly provided a pleasurable sensation as her hands then grabbed each tit and encased his cock fully between them. Finally, she looked up at him and fluttered her eyelashes.

"I want you to fuck my tits now, Jack. And I don't want you to stop until you cover my face in your cum."

It was even sexier to hear the words coming from her mouth while she watched him with large, innocent eyes. The contrast between them made the experience so much more erotic to Jack. Anna was the young and innocent officer who turned into a sexual goddess behind closed doors. He didn't know how he'd gotten so lucky but he was determined to enjoy it to the fullest.

Jack began to thrust his hips, watching his cock sink between her lovely flesh and then pop out near her chin with every thrust. All of the generous saliva that she'd used to coat him added to the lack of friction, making it feel similar to her mouth or her pussy. Anna gripped her tits tight against him and kept dripping more spit down her valley to further lube his strokes.

The most arousing part of the whole experience for Jack—beyond the feel—was how Anna kept her eyes focused on him. Her sexy, dark eyes seemed to capture his own gaze so deeply that he never wanted to look away. Even the way her small mouth fell open as his cock repeatedly slipped between the wet valley was enticing. She had totally enraptured him and made sure all he could think about was release.

And he was going to release soon. The incredible sensation and wet heat from her body was slowly driving him crazy. All he wanted to do was unload on her pretty face and coat it with his cum. The lusty stare of desire that she wore told him that she wanted it just as much as he did.

"Are you going to cum for me, Jack? Are you going to squirt all over my face? I want you to do it for me please. It's all I could think about during our entire debriefing just now. How badly I wanted to be a bad girl for you and be covered with your cum."

"I'm getting so close," Jack hissed as his thrusting became much more vigorous.

Anna responded by lowering her head and letting the tip of his cock penetrate her mouth. She would flicker her tongue over the slit every time he got close, providing the most pleasurable feeling. Combined with the rest of her activity, he knew he wouldn't last much longer.

"Please, Jack, I need it so bad! Please cum for me. Please cum for your little, officer slut. I've been so bad and I've had such dirty thoughts about you. I need your cum, Jack!"

Jack grunted as her enticing words sent him spiraling through orgasm. His hips pumped in a jerking fashion as cum erupting from the slit and began to splash all over her chest, chin, and mouth. Anna opened wide, catching a spurt in her mouth as several others decorated the rest of her face. When Jack finally stopped cumming, she was completely covered.

"Mmm, that's what I love," cooed Anna as she sought to scoop up any remaining cum. Using her fingers, she managed to drizzle what was left into her mouth until she had greedily devoured all that was left. "Yummy," she said once finished.

Jack collapsed back into his chair, a spent force. "I haven't cum that hard in a long time."

Anna grinned. "You mean since we last had sex last night?"

"Precisely," he said while laughing.

She giggled with him and grabbed her bra from the floor. "I'd offer to stay longer but I have part of the watch on the bridge tonight."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to shower before you go back out there?"

She shook her head. "Now why would I do something silly like that? I think it's deliciously naughty of me to go back to my post smelling like my commander's cum."

"You're crazy," said Jack while shaking his head.

"I do believe you like me like this," said Anna, giving him a subtle wink. It was the same wink he was so used to seeing from her sister. He would never tell her, and she would certainly hate to hear it, but they acted so alike that it wasn't hard to see they were related.

"If that's all that you require of me tonight, sir, I'll leave you to your work now," said Anna, curtsying right before the door.

Jack grinned. "Thank you, Anna. Have a nice night."

"You too, Jack," she said with a giggle as she left the room.

Jack reached down to the floor to pull his trousers back up but he folded them and put them next to his dresser instead of putting them back on. Grabbing his sleeping shorts, he slipped into those quickly and then began the same process with his jacket. Even though it was only eight-thirty, he had a feeling tomorrow would be an eventful day and he needed to rest. Tomorrow would be the first day that his task force set foot in the Fourth Vector. As he laid down in bed, he just prayed they were ready for whatever waited for them on the island.

*****

The next morning, Jack was surprised to find that he was the last one to make it to the bridge at the usual time. Abigail already sat in one of the commander's seats and she was going over the morning report with Kyle. Stephanie was already perched at her station and eating what was left of her breakfast. Jack made eye contact with Anna who blew him a kiss before resuming her attention back to the radio traffic between the ships.

"I was about to have Lt. Buckner come find you," said Abigail with a smile as he sat down. "I thought you might have overslept."

"I didn't oversleep," said Jack with a smile. "I was a bit wiped last night but I got up at the usual time."

"Wiped, huh? I wonder what could have zapped your energy so much," said Abigail while looking toward the ceiling with wondering eyes. Jack did everything he could not to look back at Anna. He wondered if Abigail knew what happened in his quarters last night with her sister.

Jack chose not to take the obvious bait and instead grabbed his own copy of the morning report. "Any news from overnight?"

"Not a peep," she replied. "I think the whole crew is ready to get their first taste of land today."

"Aren't we all? Let's set a course for that channel we found yesterday. It looked deep enough for us to travel up. Once we see what's inside, we can let the marine expedition get started," said Jack.

"Aye, sir," said Abigail with a grin.

The task force began to steam a short while later with the Destiny in the lead. They made their way back down the coast once more on the same route as they had the previous day. The channel was on the very southern end of the island, and the sun was about midway up the sky by the time they reached the inlet.

Jack studied the channel more intensely than he had the day before. The channel itself was a few thousand feet wide at the point where it emptied into the ocean although he wasn't sure if it opened up into an internal bay or proved to be just a river. There was a certain peril at exploring these channels. The first risk they took was the topography under the waves. While the ships of the task force didn't have nearly as heavy a draft as the battleships in the Javan fleet, they still had to be watchful for submerged reefs or sandbars so as not to get stuck in shallow waters.

Another factor to consider was how to turn around and exit the channel if it proved to be just a river. It would be hard enough as is just to reverse course but if they ran into any unexpected trouble, it could make for a harrowing situation.

Seeing as the Tiger had the shallowest draft of all the ships, only twelve feet at its deepest, it was decided that the destroyer would be the one to navigate the channel for the time being while the two cruisers waited just off the coast. Jack transferred over to Tiger alongside Greg and a couple platoons of marines as the task force floated harmlessly out at sea.

"Bring the ship in closer to the channel. Try to stay away from the shore as much as possible. Radio over to Luke and Abigail and have them wait for us at the entrance," instructed Jack as the Tiger slipped inside the channel.

Once they were inside the inlet, Jack kept his eyes perched on both sides of the shore. Only the occasional flock of birds would catch his attention. It seemed just a little too calm, even to the point of being unnatural.

"Do you notice anything about the island? Anything off-putting to you?" Jack asked Vicky.

Vicky gave him a worried glance. "I think it's strange I haven't seen any animals. You'd think we'd have seen something at the very least but there's nothing here."

"Something doesn't feel right about this island," said Jack.

The Tiger crept deeper into the channel. About two hundred yards from the mouth, the passage began to narrow. Vicky guided the ship through the middle of the channel but as the shore raced closer on either side, it started to become a tight fit.

"Maybe we should go back. I'm starting to get nervous with how close that coast is," said Jack while gesturing to the dry land only a hundred feet from the hull.

"I'm okay with that," said Vicky before she pointed upriver just beyond the horizon. "What's that, Jack?"

The source of the channel seemed to be within sight. There was something glittering just ahead. Jack checked it out further with his binoculars.

"Is that what I think it is?" Vicky asked.

It looked to be a set of buildings to Jack. They looked eerily similar to those back in Java, made with a thick, red brick for the siding and peaked roofing. Rows of windows lined the shore of the small city and Jack could make out the various heights of those buildings closest to the channel.

"It's a city," Jack whispered. "It looks just like home."

Vicky bit her lip excitedly. "Can we get closer?"

Jack looked at the sides of the ship and then shrugged. He couldn't see any deeper into the water to know how deep the floor was so it was nearly impossible to judge. If only they could reach a little further, they could make contact with the city but it was foolish to keep going.

They would have to send the launch boats to explore any further.

"Let's get word back to the Destiny," said Jack. "We've already gone too far. Let's get back to the mouth of the chan—"

It came about suddenly. A devastatingly loud grinding noise erupted from the bottom of the ship and nearly everyone reached out to steady their balance as the vessel shook with a terrible racket. The ship lurched ahead with a boom and then stopped completely as the warning lights from the engine room began to flash.

"Jack, we've hit something!" said Vicky with a frightened look. "The propellers are still going but the ship is stuck!"

"Radio down to the engine room and have them reverse course. Let's see if we can dislodge ourselves," ordered Jack.

The ship rumbled to a full stop for several moments as the propellers prepared to change course. Soon enough they were working full steam to try to pull the ship back from whatever it had beached itself on. More severe grinding occurred as the hull scraped the narrow bed of the channel. A few moments of shaking and no moving showed that the ship was thoroughly stuck.

"Cut power to the engines. We've been grounded," said Jack with frustration. He nearly threw his binoculars, knowing that they shouldn't have come so far up the channel.

"It's okay, Jack," said Vicky as her hand reached out to touch his arm. "We'll call back to Luke and have him pull us back."

"I need a status report on the hull. Please let me know of any breaches or leaks from the bottom. I won't see this ship flooded because of this," said Jack.

As she issued a series of orders, Jack put his hands around his head. If there was serious damage to the ship, it could throw the whole mission in jeopardy. He kept his thoughts contained while Vicky picked up her binoculars again. After a moment, she spoke up with a worried tone.

"Jack, I don't mean to alarm you, but where did the city go?" she asked while pointing out the window.

"What? What do you mean?" He grabbed his binoculars and looked back out the window. Looking back to where he'd spotted the city, Jack nearly dropped his jaw. The city was gone. What had appeared to be rows of windows and brick siding was now nothing but empty fields, devoid of trees or life. There was nothing left to capture their attention and Jack found himself looking back at Vicky with disbelief.

"How could this happen?" he whispered.

"I don't know. Was it a mirage?"

"Is it still considered a mirage if we both saw it?"

Vicky shrugged. "This is really bizarre, Jack."

The door to the bridge swung open suddenly and in popped Major Vaughn.

"What the hell was that noise, Jack? I'm hearing the men say we have flooding down on the lower deck!"

"Shit!" Jack swore. "How bad is it?"

"It's minimal and didn't look like a bad fix, but not something you'll want to let go."

"Vicky, get the pumps down there and begin to suck the water out," ordered Jack.

"Hot damn, Jack! We're far enough away from shore. How did we get grounded here?" asked Greg.

"It must be getting pretty shallow in this part of the channel," said Jack.

"Now what, Jack?" asked Vicky quietly.

“Well, it looks like we’re not going anywhere quickly. I'm hesitant to send for the Valiant but it's the only way we could possibly get off this sandbar. They need to take a little more precautions and I don't want them getting too close to us,” said Jack.

It took around thirty minutes for the Valiant to make its way up the channel. Jack had urged Luke to go slow and to follow what remained of the Tiger's wake to prevent another accident from happening. Soon enough, the light cruiser came to rest not far from the Tiger’s stern as the crew began to unroll the chains from their stowed positions.

Jack and the rest of the officers from the Tiger went to the stern of the ship to prepare to attach the towing chains.

“Bring those chains over and we’ll attach to both sides of the ship. I want one on the back of the ship too so that we pull evenly,” instructed Jack. “I’m going to need a group of volunteers to go down into the water here and help attach the chains.”

“I’ll grab some of the men to help with that, Jack,” said Vicky before sending her lieutenant off to fetch the required manpower.

It was an incredible operation to watch the crews of both ships coordinate the towing action. It was even more awesome to see the size of the massive chains that would soon connect both ships. Jack had seen towing actions before, but the chains always amazed him—one single link was larger than the size of a cement block and just as heavy.

Because of the massive size, they had to be lowered into place and then guided by hand. For that, Vicky had assembled three crews of about ten men each. Each of them piled into a small boat since the water was still too deep to stand in and helped to guide them to points where they could be attached to the Tiger.

At one point, Jack even joined one of the crews as an excuse to see some action. He climbed down into a small boat on the port side of the ship.

“Nice and easy now, men. Let’s guide her right into place,” he advised as all of them took a portion of the chain to link to the cruiser’s hull.

“Hold on! The crane’s stuck! Give us a moment,” yelled one of the sailors from the Valiant as the large chain came to a halt right next to the ship.

“That would figure,” grumbled one of the enlisted men next to Jack.

“Lazy bastards,” said another one. “You’d think they’d know how to operate a simple crane.”

“This sure doesn’t look like much out here. I was expecting the Fourth Vector to look a little more . . . evil?”

“It kind of looks like the southern half of Java,” said the other man with a laugh.

“I don’t know. Something about those trees over there gives me a funny feeling,” said the first man as he pointed over to shore.

Jack followed the man’s hand with his eyes. He was right—the trees on the opposing shore did look awfully ominous right now. Jack wasn’t sure what bothered him more—the way the sun seemed to shine only to the top of the trees (creating nothing but shadows underneath the foliage) or the eerie sound of silence from the shore. Either way, the slight breeze that shook the leaves on the trees seemed to raise the hairs on his neck.

“They’re just trees, you moron. How can they give you a—FUCK!”

Jack whipped his head around quickly to look at the man who just swore and found him crumbled to the bottom of the small boat holding his head while blood pumped out the side of his neck, painting the inside of the vessel red.

“Chuck, what the hell did you do?”

“Something hit me, goddamnit!” the wounded man cried out.

“Hold on, keep still,” said Jack, climbing over to attend to the man. A small, bloody gash had opened on the side of his neck just about an inch in size. Jack’s eyes craned over the floor of the boat and immediately settled on the object that caused it. Reaching over to pick it up, Jack squinted at the small, circular stone that had so wounded the man.

“This is what you were hit with,” said Jack, holding up the stone. “How the hell did a stone get launched this hard?”

Before anyone could venture a guess, a loud bang erupted against the side of the boat as another stone was launched against it. A split-second later, another sailor whelped in pain as the stone made contact.

“Where the hell is that coming from?”

“Who’s shooting stones at us?”

“It’s the damn trees! Look over there!”

Jack looked over just in time. A short way over at the shoreline stood a small crowd of people and they definitely weren’t Javans. He couldn’t study them any longer before the front row pulled back on what appeared to be a slingshot and released.

“Get your heads down!” yelled Jack as he ducked beneath the side of the boat.

The warning came far too late for half of the men. Screams and yelps erupted along the entire length of the small vessel. Moments later, another volley came erupting against the side of the boat, this time missing most of the men.

“Keep your damn heads down,” roared Jack as a steady stream of slingshots began to pepper their position in regular intervals.

“We’re pinned down. We’re under attack!” yelled several of the men.

Jack grabbed the radio at his waist and tuned to the command frequency. “Greg, we need help as soon as possible!”

Waiting for him to come in, Jack looked up to survey the damage. He could see the men that operated the crane on the Valiant now ducking behind any object as they tried to avoid the firing as well. Even the men at the rear boat near the stern were taking cover and Jack could only imagine the men on the starboard side under a similar position.

“Jack, what’s going on out there?” came Greg's voice moments later.

“We’re under attack from shore! I need you to get the marines to open fire and scatter the crowd gathered over here!”

“On it, Jack!” he said. “Who are these people?”

Jack hazarded another glance over the rim of the boat. What now appeared to be at least a fifty people had gathered on the shore to keep up the shooting. “I don’t know but we need to give them a taste of their own medicine!”

Around the beached ship, men scattered across the deck to help their beleaguered comrades. The alarm for battle-stations roared overhead and soon Jack could hear the sounds of opposing fire as guns opened up. He took the chance to look again at shore.

The gun fire decimated the front ranks of the people onshore and they were now rushing for coverage behind the tree line. Several of them were unlucky enough to be hit square in the back as they hustled for protection, falling in their tracks.

“They’re running away!” yelled one of the men as most of the natives escaped beyond the trees. If the men thought the ordeal was over, they were quickly robbed of the notion. Projectiles started to issue forth again as the natives regrouped behind the trees. While they weren't anywhere near as lethal as the first volleys, it still kept them pinned down.

“We need to get out of these boats or we're sitting ducks,” said Jack, taking the chance to stand and approach the motor at the rear of the boat. He knew he was being reckless with his life but it didn’t matter. If they stayed here, they couldn’t fight back.

The small boat roared to life as the motor dipped back into the water and shot them forward. All of the men had to duck to miss the towing chain on their way out as slingshots continued to slam into the hull and machine gun fire continued to issue overhead.

“Greg, come in,” said Jack, talking through the radio. “We need a team of men to go ashore and chase after these bastards.”

“Roger that, Jack! I’m already having a couple platoons gear up!” came the response from the marine.

The boat lurched forward until it reached the small ladder to get back to the main deck. One by one, the men scampered back up the ladder, some of them alone while others carried their wounded comrades across their shoulder. Jack waited until every man was off until he radioed back to Greg.

“Come on down, Greg. Portside midship ladder. Bring me a rifle!”

A few moments later, the face of the marine appeared just off the deck. “Did someone call for some backup?”

“I sure did! Get your ass down here and let’s kill these bastards,” said Jack.

The battle-ready marines began to file into the boat. Their heavy protective clothing seemed to help better than those of the sailors as several of them took hits on the way down and remained standing. Soon enough, Jack had just about half a platoon squeezed into the tiny boat and turned the motor to begin a short dash to the shore.

“Rifles up, boys! Let’s show them why no one messes with Javan marines,” yelled Greg as the boat neared shore.

They weren’t without casualties on the short journey over. One particularly unlucky marine took a shot right to the face. The small fountain of blood that erupted combined with his eerie stillness right after told Jack the man wouldn't make it. It was just a very blatant reminder to them all to keep their heads down as much as possible.

Almost too soon, the boat pulled up against the sandy bank and each of them ducked over the side to take shelter behind it. As soon as covering fire was secured, the team on the right side of the boat rushed toward the tree line.

“They’re pulling back! Let’s go,” yelled Greg with the forward group of marines as they began to dash into the overgrowth of trees.

Jack and the marines left on the beach began to rush to join their comrades. Soon enough the entire group was hustling over the dead bodies of the natives left on the beach as they emerged into the small, coastal forest. Several slingshots ricocheted off the trees as the group looked for shelter.

“Keep your heads down,” said Greg as several of them huddled behind one particularly large tree.

“Where the hell did they go,” said Jack, looking further into the forest. The path in front of them was void of any life—the natives having long since pulled back. Apart from the occasional shot, no one could tell where they went.

“Let’s advance further. I want you men to spread out and watch your backs. Let’s see if we can stumble on some more of these bastards,” said Greg as each of them spread out to form a semicircle.

Jack paired up with another marine he knew to be named Pullman and together they pushed into their section of the forest. Off to his right, Jack could see Greg advancing some thirty feet away in the same direction.

“Keep at it, men! Holler if you see anything,” said Greg. About twenty minutes after their boat reached shore, the men stopped in their tracks. The forest at that point became too dark and deep to advance without more men. To make matters worse, all the firing from the natives had since stopped, and they had completely disappeared from sight. It was almost like they had gone into thin air.

From where they had halted, Greg had taken a short jaunt over to Jack’s position. What had started as a distance of thirty feet originally had fanned out to about one hundred by the time they had stopped chasing.

“What do you think, Jack? I haven’t seen a damn thing in ages.”

“Me neither. It’s quiet. Almost too quiet,” said Jack, still trying to look through bushes and trees to catch a glimpse of the enemy.

“What do you want to do? Go back to the ship?”

Jack quickly shook his head. “And have them come rushing back to shoot at us as soon as our backs are turned again? No way. I want us to create a defensive perimeter. On both sides of the ship. That way, our sailors can work unencumbered without having to worry about someone shooting at their backs.”

Greg’s radio opened up at that moment. “Major Vaughn, come in.”

“Go ahead.”

“This is Lt. Reid on the starboard side of the Tiger. We’ve lost contact with the enemy,” came the voice through the radio.

“Roger that, Lieutenant,” said Greg. “We’ve lost contact as well. Pull back to about thirty yards from the beach on your side and form a defensive perimeter.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Well, that should take care of the boys, Jack,” said Greg grimly. “I don’t like that we’ve only killed so few of them. I especially don’t like that now we throw the initiative back to them.

Jack furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

Greg shrugged and let his rifle rest on his boot. “Now that we stop pursuing them, they have a chance to regroup. If we pull back to the beaches, they could launch a surprise attack on us. And if they break through, it’ll be easy for them to wreak havoc on the crews again.”

“That part bothers me as well,” said Jack. “But there’s not much else we can do now without more men. I’m concerned about an ambush if we press further into the forest without support. They could easily surround us and wipe us out.”

“Damned if we do and damned if we don’t, right, Jack?” said Greg with a smirk.

Jack chuckled. “Isn’t it always?”

“I at least want to make those bastards sorry they ever thought to attack us. Hopefully we caused enough casualties among them today that they’ll think twice about doing it again.”

“We can hope. Something is off about this island though, Greg. Where the hell did these people come from? We circled the entire island yesterday and saw signs of nothing. There had to be over a fifty men on just our side of the beach. Probably equal numbers on the other side too. And that’s just the warriors. Where do you hide that many people on such a small island?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” said Greg. “I don’t think we’ve seen enough of our little friends here.”

“Speaking of little, I want to grab a few of the dead ones and bring them back to the ships to examine. These are the first Fourthies we’ve run across and I want to see them up close,” said Jack as they began to turn back to the ship.

Greg issued a command to the remaining men and they were back to their designated defensive positions soon enough. Together, they set the perimeter for the men as well and also set up two relief groups of marines to stand watch on three different shifts throughout the day. At least in these positions, Jack felt confident they’d have plenty of notice in case the natives decided to attack again.

After trudging their way back to the beach, Jack and Greg came to a stop right next to the bodies of the natives that had been fired upon first by the ship's machine guns. All having fallen where they were hit, the mix of bodies gave the men their first real opportunity to look at a Fourthie species.

And they definitely weren't human.

"What do you think they are?" asked Greg as he leaned down to examine one of the bodies more closely.

"I have no idea. Tiny, little bastards, aren't they?" said Jack. He leaned down next to the nearest body. This warrior had been hit by several rounds of the gunfire, sporting ugly gashes across his upper chest and arm. Even from the native's position on the ground, Jack could see the man wasn't any more than five feet tall.

The man had coarse, dark hair worn short against his scalp with just a small amount of curl to the tips. His head had a more cylindrical shape to it than that of Jack's own, and his face was completely covered in markings of various different colors including red and yellow most prominently. They stood out in stark contrast to the darker skin of the man, a color Jack had only seen in some parts of Ruthenia to the far south of Java.

Apart from a worn, dark-brown vest and a similar color kilt, the man wore no other clothes. Jack had to wonder whether these natives regularly headed into battle so exposed. Slits of red and yellow paint covered the areas not concealed by the vest and seemed to be shared by those of his fallen comrades.

"What do you reckon they are? They look almost like people, but they are so small," said Greg, eyes wide at checking out the body at his feet.

"I don't know. Nothing that I've seen before," answered Jack. "Let's grab several of them and take them back to the ship. I want to have one of the doctors look at them."

Greg nodded and together both men began to stack a few of the bodies to bring with them back to the ships. After they had about three of them laid out near the shore, Greg gasped in surprise.

"Jack! This one's a woman! Well, at least I think it's a woman. Come here and look at this!"

Jack squinted his eyes and approached his friend to see the dead native at his feet. Greg pulled the shoulders back and rolled the dead woman over so that she laid on her back, earning a hiss from Jack.

"Holy hell, are those . . .?"

"I think so. You have seen ones that big?" asked Greg, marveling at the dead woman.

Her chest was incredibly massive. Jack estimated that her tits had to contain almost a quarter of her entire body weight. They stood out proudly, only covered by the flimsy vest in certain sections and capped with very prominent nipples.

"How did she even stand upright with those things?"

Jack shook his head. "Maybe she needed a crutch or something. This species is rather bizarre. Let's get her back with the others so we can examine them."

They carefully moved her as well, her giant chest bobbing around as they carried her to lay beside the others. Soon enough, they were piled into the small boat that carried them there and they were back off to the Destiny, the only ship with a large enough morgue to store the bodies while they were studied.

As soon as the boat pulled up to the mighty cruiser down by the mouth of the channel, they began to offload and carry the bodies up one by one. By the time the last body was brought up to the deck, a small group of sailors had gathered around, most of them gawking at the dead natives who had so recently been shooting at them.

"What are they, Commander?" asked one of the men, Scott, as Jack let slip the last body against the deck.

"Some kind of tiny people from what we can tell. We all still have a lot of questions about them, but hopefully with these bodies, we can find some answers," said Jack. "Now each of you, I want you to pair off and grab a body. Let's get them down to see Doctor Kendall.

It was little over two hours later when Jack and the assembled officers from both cruisers crammed their way into the small infirmary on the Destiny. In front of them laid the four, dead bodies carefully explored and examined by the medical team of Dr. Kendall.

The doctor was an older man, approximately late forties and built like a typical Javan. He had the bodies of one of the dead men and the dead woman in front of him for the entire officers to gather around.

"Well, thank you all for joining me. It appears you've made quite the discovery with the recovery of these bodies," said Kendall. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"We wouldn't have either if they hadn't started firing on us," grumbled Luke, earning an elbow to the ribs from Jack.

"What are they, Kendall? Are they human or not?" asked Jack.

"They closely resemble humans but there's some key differences in their biology that would make me classify them as more humanoid in description."

"Humanoid. What's that?"

"Well, from what we can see, they do seem to be remarkably similar to humans. Two eyes, two ears, one mouth, four limbs and a bipedal Hominid appearance. We've even had a look around their organs and their internal structure is very similar to ours," said Kendall, demonstrating by pulling open the flap of the dead man's chest.

"That's disgusting," said Anna, averting her eyes.

"So what makes them different?" asked Abigail, taking a closer look at the dead man's body.

"I'm glad you asked! The height of these creatures is very limited. None of the men here are any taller than five feet. The woman is just a few inches shorter than the men," said Kendall while resting his hand on the woman's feet. "These do appear to be full grown so we don't believe them to be juvenile."

Several of the crew began to eye the dead woman's chest—the clearest sign of maturity present. "What gave that away?" asked Luke while struggling to retain a smile.

"It's no secret so let's not gloss over the fact," said the doctor while gesturing to the woman's chest. "This woman's breasts are incredibly large for her frame, much larger than we'd see on a human female of her general shape and size. In fact, if we were to scale her breasts to a human, that woman would have to be over seven feet tall and weigh approximately three hundred pounds!"

"I wonder what makes them grow like that. You know, so big," said Jack.

"That's not the only strange thing about this. Let me show you what else we found," said Kendall as he crossed to the rear end of the table and gently pulled the woman's legs apart. Nearly all the officers surrounding them nearly gasped when he did.

"Now in the interest of being thorough with a new species, we examined every portion of her we could and this part we found extremely interesting. Look between this one's legs. What do you see?"

"A vagina that could easily take a giant if she wanted to?" offered Greg, earning a round of snickers from the officers.

"Precisely!" exclaimed Kendall, gesturing to the woman's intimate area. "While we would have expected to see a small vaginal opening to match the rest of her body size, she has a rather large opening."

Jack took a closer look and indeed saw the woman's vagina looking like it was meant for something very well-equipped. The lips on the side were extremely puffy and a large matting of hair covered the rest of her mound. It almost looked comical to see such a big vagina on a small woman if they hadn't already seen her enormous breasts.

"Now, here's where things get particularly interesting," said a clearly excited Kendall. He walked around to the man and carefully removed the loincloth covering his modesty.

"As you can see, the male species is notable for their rather small penises for their body shape. We measured this one at just over two inches long and he had the largest of the three men brought down here to the infirmary."

"Wait a second, Doctor," said Luke, holding his hands up and then gesturing between the man and woman. "How does that work exactly? That little thing goes inside canyon pussy lady here?"

Several more of the officers started to laugh as the doctor frowned at the question. "It appears to be that way but without any more data on these people, we can't be sure. It is an extremely odd sexual dimorphism between the two genders. While the men don't appear to be sexualized at all, the women are highly sexualized in contrast. It makes for a rather lopsided view of the people and makes me question how their society is structured," said Kendall.

Abigail scrunched her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

Kendall shrugged. "Take humans for example. While yes, we do have a range of sexual dimorphism, both genders still appear to look like one another and fit perfectly together when in sexual congress. With these humanoids, their bodies don't quite fit together nicely and their genitalia doesn't match up. It makes me question how they mate."

"I have an idea," said Luke. "Maybe the guy just gets close, and whacks off into the girl's pussy and that helps them mate?"

The joke was lost on Kendall, who was obviously taking it more seriously than Luke. "Perhaps," he said dryly. He then pointed back to the woman. "It would seem even the rest of her physical features are designed to attract a mate. Her hair is long, elegant, and full of volume whereas the man's is short, coarse, and somewhat curly. Where his skin is dry and cracked, hers is smooth and radiant. It's quite the difference!"

"I wonder if their division of labor is set up to facilitate that," said Abigail while studying the female. "Perhaps the men are the workers and the women stay home with the kids?"

"Great observation, ma'am," said Kendall with a bright smile. "But it does raise a further question. Why was this woman fighting with the men if that's the case?"

There was no clear answer to that question nor did anyone from the group venture one. Jack found himself just as confused as the rest of them and upon learning all they could from the limited demonstration in the infirmary, the majority of them retired back to their posts.

Truthfully, Jack would have preferred to get the Tiger towed back to deeper waters and escape the confining channel but they had no such luck. Even with the marines providing a secure perimeter around the ships for the towing action, the Valiant was only able to pull the destroyer so far before it was realized that something heavier was needed. There just wasn't enough strength to move the ship from the sandbar it was stuck on.

It was for that reason that Jack found himself pondering different solutions as it approached ten o'clock that night. With the marines taking shifts to provide security on the beaches, Jack found himself drifting off into a largely restless night of sleep.