Back again hope you like this next instalment.

Out of the darkness something will rise

"Take Legacy in Beth." Mickie said as they approached the Island, the inlet was far too small for Legacy though and Mickie soon realised they would have to use the life boat Beth and Randy had stolen from Sambo.

"Look I will be quick, there might not be anything there but I can't just go passed without checking, they stopped here for a reason." Mickie explained to Ted at his protests of her going to the Island herself.

"I know Mickie, but me and John can go there is no need to go yourself." Ted said as Beth stood up and came up beside the two arguing officers.

"I will go with Mickie, I will make sure we are in and out of there as quickly as possible." Beth said giving ted a look that said he wasn't going to win this one and the blonde backed down.

"Fine but keep in radio contact for my sake." Ted said giving his wilful Captain a glance and receiving a smirk.

"As always Mr Debasie." Mickie replied as she and Beth went to the lift and down to the docking bay.

The life boat launched and Beth and Mickie could not believe how dark it was out there, the storm had pretty much gone but clouds still covered much of the sky and any light from the moon was being blocked out. Beth turned on the lamp at the front of the boat but it gave little light but it was just enough to steer by.

"Do you here that?" Mickie said suddenly turning her head and looking back at Legacy drifting in the water not half a mile away from them.

"Oh no!" Beth said as she pointed towards a ship appearing from behind the out cropping rocks.

"It's the UAN they must have been waiting for us this was a trap." Mickie said as Beth started to swing the life boat around.

"No we can't go back we are no match for them." Mickie said her hand over the top of Beth's to keep the boat still as Legacy's engines fired up.

"They might get away they can come back for us later." Mickie said as the life boast bobbed in the water.

"Umm Mickie what was that?" Beth said as a flash of light came from the UAN boat and push towards them under the water.

"Shit jump!" Mickie said as she and Beth launched themselves into the water and swam towards the shore as fast as they could.

"Commander the UAN, they were waiting for us!" John shouted as the ship appeared on his radar screen and Ted ordered the engines fired up.

"What about the Captain?" Chris shouted but Ted had no chance to answer as weapons fire hit Legacy and several pipes burst on the bridge, filing the room with steam and making it hard for the crew to see.

"Patch that up, get us out of here Mr Jericho!" Ted shouted going back to his station to see if he could get a target lock on the UAN ship but found that he had lost the ability to fire the missiles.

"Melina what's going on down there I have no weapons." Ted called on the radio as another blast hit the ship and all he got in reply was static.

"That took out the comm.'s sir, she can't here you." John said holding his arm as he tried to get information on what exactly was being damaged when another explosion hit and Chris was thrown backwards as the helm exploded in his face.

"Shit Chris, someone go and get the Doc." Ted said coming over to the helms man and seeing that he had pretty bad burns to his face and hands.

Ted wasn't sure who went but he knew Legacy was done for, they had no weapons, no way to contact the rest of the ship and by the sounds of it that UAN ship was docking. Ted rushed to his consol and was met with a blank screen, punching the useless computer with his fist he shook his hand as the pain reminding him that he was still alive and could fight.

The lights went out then, just for a moment as they flickered under the damaged the ship had sustained and Ted was momentarily blinded.

When the lights came back he was surrounded by UAN soldiers and he hung his head knowing that this was finally it. Mickie was gone, he had lost Legacy and now he was going to be placed in a prison and probably tortured for information. And to top it all he couldn't even set the computer virus so these vultures couldn't steel their technology.

"Ted Debasie you are a liability." He said to himself as one of the soldiers punched him in the mouth to shut him up.

Ted fell against the edge of his consol and the hard metal connected with his ribs, feeling something crunch Ted chose to stay on the floor for now trying hard to gasp breath as he was then forcibly pulled to his feet and he was turned to face a tall thin man who was wearing a cloak.

"Hello Commander I am sorry but I am going to have to relieve you of your command. It seems like your Captain and first officer are a bit tied up at the moment, but I wouldn't worry they wont be for long." The man said with an evil smile on his face as a shiver ran though Ted right down in to his toes.

Mickie and Beth emerged in the shallow waters of the beach spluttering and gasping for air. They had managed to get clear just in time as the missile hit their tiny boat.

Now both women turned around in the waist high water and watched as the UAN ship docked with Legacy.

"Oh no" Mickie said as she shivered uncontrollably at the icy waters tricking off her skin as Beth waded over and pulled her towards the beach.

"Come on Mickie we need to get out of this water before we catch hypothermia." Mickie allowed Beth to walk her towards the beach as the UAN ship towed Legacy away just like they had done with the dauntless and all Mickie and Beth could do was watch.

"How did it come to this?" Mickie said as she placed her head in her hands as Beth's arms wrapped around her and she held on to the blonde like her life depended on it.

"I don't know, but maybe they will find a way out of this, you have done it before, we can't give up now." Beth said pulling Mickie's dripping wet hair away from her face and Mickie looked up and took in a deep breath.

"God this place is quite." Mickie said as she and Beth made their way further up the beach and towards the tree line, which just seemed like an inky black abyss.

"I know it's almost creepy." Beth replied as a rustle could be heard amongst the tress but it was impossible to tell what it was.

"I wonder why they chose this Island?" Mickie said and then she heard the distinct sound of her name being called.

"Mickie, hey over here!"

"Randy?"

"Yeah, me and Cody are tied up in a tree!" Randy's voice was close, but it was so dark neither woman could ascertain exactly where it was coming from.

"Keep talking Randy, we will find you." Beth called as she and Mickie moved off to the right.

"Hey Beth, yeah you sound like you are getting closer." Randy said as Mickie shifted up the beach somewhat and suddenly she could make out their dim shapes dangling from a tree branch.

"God Randy, Cody are you guys ok?" Mickie said as she and Beth raced to them and Mickie pulled out her pocket knife from her sock.

"So far, but I am telling you something is in that forest and I don't want to find out what it is." Randy said as he dropped the short distance to the ground and rubbed his sore neck.

Mickie handed the knife to Beth so she could release Cody as she threw her arms around Randy's neck and placed her lips over his.

Beth smiled slightly at the scene as she cut Cody down and he stood up straight next to her.

"God are we gland to see you." He said giving her a smile so wide Beth could even see his teeth in the darkness.

"I don't know how she knew but Mickie was sure someone had been left on this Island." Beth said feeling like Cody was staring at her a little bit to intently but choosing to ignore it as Randy and Mickie separated and came to stand next to them.

"So where is the boat." Randy asked and Mickie realised that from way back here they could not have seen what had happened.

"Umm the UAN blew it up." Beth said as she shifted nervously from foot to foot until Cody placed his hand around her wait and stilled her. Her shifting was making him nervous and she was obviously wet and cold.

Beth gave him a small smile but she was grateful for the warmth of his body and she lea into him slightly.

"Legacy?" Randy asked but already knowing the answer.

"They have her along with the rest of the crew, they were waiting for us, hiding behind the Island like we do, someone must have told them that little trick." Mickie said slight anger tinting her voice as Randy placed his hand on her shoulder.

"If Masamba is anything like Sambo in his torture techniques and I think he could even be worse I wouldn't have blamed them." Randy said catching Mickie's eyes and Mickie gave a small nod of her head.

A cool breeze blew across the Island and all four people stood on the beach suddenly became aware of a constant hissing noise.

"What is that?" Mickie asked as they spun around to peer into the forest but they could see nothing only here the hiss.

"We don't know but it started the moment Masamba left, it's eerie isn't it." Randy replied as the hissing seemed to grow louder.

Cody felt Beth tense next to him, her body became stiff and ridged and her could feel her pulse race as he held on to her tighter.

"I know what that is, and I know why Masamba chose this Island." Beth said a slight panic in her voice but Cody could tell she was fighting to control it for their sakes.

"What, tell us Beth." Mickie said taking hold of the Blonde's shaking hands and holding them close.

"They was this plague on Africa centuries ago, there was a creature called a Scarab."

"A dung beetle?" Cody chimed in and Beth shook her head at him emphatically.

"No not dung not in this world, the Scarab beetle eats flesh, it has a poisonous bite which paralyzes it's victims, one bite would take a fully grown male down in less than two minutes, once you are incapacitated they eat you alive." Beth said as she watched all the eyes grow wide behind her as the hissing became almost a din as whatever it was in those trees was getting very close.

"Are you sure, how did they get rid of them?" Mickie said darting her eyes about for somewhere to run but there was nothing but ocean behind them and that hissing in front.

"They were introduced to a virus which spread amongst the beetle's the only one's that survived were ones on Islands like this, they are entirely nocturnal, the light it hurts them somehow, makes them week, it is unlikely anything but passing birds live on this Island, they would have eaten everything else." Beth said backing up towards the water followed by everyone else as the hissing seemed to be ringing in their ears now.

"Can they swim?" Randy asked as he could now here the lapping of the waves and checked behind him to see they were mere feet from the waters edge.

"Not that I know of, but we wouldn't last more than fifteen minutes in there." Beth said stopping abruptly and looking around the group.

"Do you think they know we are here?" Cody asked as Beth clutched onto his hand as they stood and listened to the hiss which had grown softer increase in volume once more.

"I would say that was a fair bet Cody." Randy replied as the waves touched his feet and sent him a reminder that he really had no where else to run.

Kofi watched as the Legacy crew were settled into their cells, the high commander had been very pleased with the information he had managed to torture out of the crew from Dauntless and had decided to spare their lives.

Kofi gave Melina a small wink as she walked into the cell and the brunette acknowledged his single.

Kofi had been given his own quarters and he was assigned to get Legacy up and running again. The computer systems had gone down in the battle and Masamba wanted them back up as soon as possible. Kofi had managed to get some of his engineers assigned to help him but they were under constant guard.

He knew if he was going to sabotage the high commander's ship and get Legacy away he would only get one shot. Working around his crew he managed to relay several coded messages to them about just how they were going to do this and he received information back about the Captain. Not only would he have to do this precisely but also quickly, from what Masamba had told him about what was on that Island their four stranded crew members did not have much time in fact Kofi was wondering if he was already too late as he welded yet another power coupling together and made his way back on to the Obelisk and down in to her engine room.

Telling the soldiers that he had to collect some tools and not given a second look Kofi placed the small charge on to the main power conduits to the engines of the ship and made sure they would not be found by closing the hatch and welding the corners closed.

Returning to Masamba's private room Kofu knelt down respectively at the man's feet and told him that they would be ready to activate Legacy's systems within the hour.

Kofi felt sick having to act like this but for now the young man had no choice if he ever wanted to get his ship and crew back again.

Beth saw no other option, they were going to have to swim for it, the back mass came out of the trees cautiously at first she could see them hesitate. Like was like a wave of darkness as they scurried across the ground inching ever closer to where the four people stood huddled on the beach.

"We are going to have to get in the water." She said as they had all unconsciously backed up almost to their knees anyway.

"Ok maybe we could swim to another part of the Island get away for now." Mickie said as she felt the cold water lap at her backside as Randy held on tighter to her hand.

"They are coming." He said as the mass seemed to sense their prey was getting away and suddenly started to move forward at and alarming rate.

Beth dived in first followed by Cody, Mickie and with a final look behind him at the line of black beetles on the shore Randy took the plunge and felt the icy fingers enclose over his body.

The shivering started almost immediately and he knew Beth had been right, there was no way they could last for long in the ocean and as he came up to the surface next to Mickie he started to look for a place they could get back on to the Island far enough away from those creatures to at least dry out.

It was Cody who spotted the out cropping beach and they swam over to it dripping wet and freezing cold. Looking at one another and listening for the ominous sound of hissing and hearing none they all seemed to breath out a collective sigh of relief.

"They will be back, it's only a matter of time before they come for us, especially now they know we are here." Beth said squeezing the excess water out from her hair and looking around in the almost total darkness at the rest of their concerned faces.

"Can they climb?" Randy asked eyeing a large tree and looking up into it's branches.

"Yeah as far as I know, and dig, the only way to stop them is to use light." Beth replied as she wrapped her arms around her to try and fight off the cold.

"Where are we going to get that kind of light source from?" Randy said looking around the barren beach and then back at Mickie.

"We could try a fire?" She suggested but she already knew it would not be strong enough.

"Look for now we would be better off in a tree, easier to defend and less life threatening than the water I suggest we pick a good one and wait it out for as long as possible." Beth said turning towards the forest when something caught her eyes.

Moving closer and peering into the darkness she felt Mickie come up alongside her.

"Do you see that?" Beth asked hoping it wasn't just her starting to imagine things.

"Nope I see it too, what do you think it is?" Mickie said as Randy and Cody came up on the ridge and looked at what the girls had seen.

"Natural protection, for every predator there is a defence and that is what that tree has done." Randy said with a smile on his face as they all started walking towards the green glowing tree.

Rounding on it they saw that it was in fact pretty bight under the trees canopy, there were several birds perched in it's branches and what looked like squirrels nesting on it's trunks.

"How many tress like this do you think this Island has?" Mickie asked Beth as they pulled themselves up on to its lower branches as they sent several birds into flight.

"Who knows it is a massive Island, maybe loads maybe hardly any, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth." Beth said as Cody pulled her up into a higher branch and she settled in next to him as Mickie and Randy took the branch next door.

"We can stay here until morning, then I suggest we scout the Island while it is safe, see if we can find food and water and perhaps more of these trees. Who knows how long Legacy we be before she comes back for us. We need to make sure we are still alive when she does." Mickie said settling back against Randy's chest and letting their combined body heat warm them.

No one corrected Mickie on her assumption that Legacy was coming back for them, they needed that hope if they were going to survive on this Island. If they had no hope of rescue they might as well let the darkness consume them.

Well now it's getting interesting, hope you guys enjoyed that one, hey at least Mickie and Randy are back together, granted marooned on a lethal Island but together non the less.

Please review I love to here your views and I will update as soon as I can.