Chapter Twenty-Five;
The Ultimate Betrayal

"Whose there?" Buffer asked again.

The next minute there was a scream and he glanced back at Scruffy. She was on the ground, disarmed. Pierce, who had been standing next to her, was gone. He turned as Caesar made a noise and gunfire rang out. The gunfire was from Dutchy's gun, the young man standing solid in the mess. Archie had disappeared as well. Caesar was on the ground, hit by something. He brushed off his knees and pushed himself up, just as something moved from behind him. Gunfire sounded again, this time from Scruffy who was still on the ground firing wildly up at where Dutchy had once stood. The young man was gone. Buffer frowned. He'd only been there a second earlier. Then Buffer glanced back at where Caesar had just been. He was gone too.

Acting instinctively he turned to the last member of his group and, offering her a hand, pulled the Seaman to her feet.

"What happened?" He asked her.

Scruffy shook her head, a trickle of blood from a small scrape on her forehead running down her face. She wiped it with the back of her hand. "There was three of them, they grabbed Dutchy and dragged him away. They came and were gone in about a second. I didn't see the others."

Buffer nodded and turned away from her, glancing around, only to hear a small cry and turn back to find Scruffy again on the ground, unconscious. He frowned and looked around quickly. They'd knocked her out in less than a second and now he could see no one.

He lifted his gun. "Who is it? What have you done with my men?" He stood over Scruffy, ensuring none of them grabbed her from under him. "Show yourselves."

And show themselves they did. Eight or nine figures, clad in camouflage gear, stepped out from the trees. They didn't raise their guns. They didn't move. They just smiled at him in their own weird way. And Buffer was suddenly very worried.

He should have been. Three more figures emerged from behind him, stepping over Scruffy as if she were never there. They made straight for Buffer but he never heard them. And then, without even realising he was in danger, his world went black.

When Scruffy awoke the area was empty, save for a lone figure standing over her. At first she thought it was Buffer and nearly smiled, but then she noticed they were thinner than Buffer. Shorter too. And she realised she didn't know them. But her eyes swimming, she was unable to make them out clearly. In the bright morning light they were little more than a dark silhouette. A dark enemy.

Her finger throbbed and her head hurt. Her face burned and she reached up to feel a scratch. It wasn't bleeding too badly, just enough to hurt. The dark figure seemed to enjoy this. He laughed.

Finally she found her voice. "Who are you? Where are the others?"

"They're with me." He replied and Scruffy gasped, realizing who the enemy were. "But we don't hurt girls. It's not our way. So, go on, run back to the Hammersley." He lifted Scruffy by her life jacket and pulled her to her feet. He then breathed into her face. "Run girlie."

And run she did. His laugh followed her back to the beach.

Rhino looked up from the RHIB as a figure burst from the trees. Recognising her he drove the RHIB to the shore. She jumped in quickly then screamed for Rhino to leave the shoreline. He turned the RHIB around and drove back. Scruffy, meanwhile, had her eyes up and trained on the island. There was no movement.

"Scruff? Where's the others?" Rhino called out above the wind and waves. He brought the RHIB to a stop and looked at Scruffy. Now a decent distance from the island, almost midway between the island and the Hammersley, she had a chance to breathe. And breathe she did. In racking coughs that made Rhino move out of his seat and to her, near the front of the RHIB. She had her head down, her hair falling over her face, and he tried to see her face between the clumps of wet, bloodied hair. Her face was scratched, bruised, but fine. One of her fingers was bent at a strange angle. It looked broken. But her emotions contorted her face.

"Scruffy?" He asked again.

Scruffy looked up. "They're not coming. We need to go back to the ship, now!"

Rhino did as was told. He was too scared of the pain in her face to contradict her. The X met them on the deck as the RHIB was risen then lowered back into place. She grabbed Scruffy and led her straight up to the bridge. Up there almost everyone was waiting. The Nav, ET, RO, Charge and Swain all looked at her as she reached the top of the stairs.

"Where's the CO?" Scruffy asked them.

Nav was the first to speak. "He's with Lance Corporal Sims. What happened?"

Scruffy's lip shook. "They came out of nowhere. Were so ferocious. I was with Pierce. One minute he was next to me, the next he was gone. Then something hit me, in the cheek, and I blacked out for a second. When I awoke, they were gone."

The X frowned at her. "Scruffy, who do they have?"

The girl's voice shook. "Dutchy, Pierce, Caesar, Archie and Buffer." In other words, everyone in the search part except her. She bit her lip. "Ma'am there was something else. They spoke to me. And they were…"

She was cut off as a voice came across the radio. "Afternoon Hammersley crew. What a surprise you're still here. Should've run off when you were told to."

Scruffy pointed to the radio. "That's them, they're the ones that took the others. Ma'am, they're Australians!"

And as the X listened she knew the Seaman was right. The accent was definitely Australian. She looked at Charge. "You better get the CO."

A/N: Okay, that's the end of that part. Coming up next: Part Three; The Third Adversary – The Australians. Stay tuned, coming soon! ;) We're at the half-way mark. Hope you're enjoying it. Drop me some feedback, no matter how trivial. I love the support. All the research for this is eating into my downtime and it makes it very worth it when I hear someone likes it, so please if you're reading it say something! Anything. Doesn't even have to be constructive. :)