Chapter 25

Five days before the Scorpion's were to arrive, the group finally had a hole in the side of the cave big enough that Jack could fit through. They began night time reconnaissance missions to get the lay of the land, count the number of Scorpion's guarding the mine and determine the location of the TARDIS, which surprisingly was still were they left it.

The mine workers had begun bringing aquanda out of the mines and putting it in large wheeled bins in the great hall. Knowing that the aquanda would go out of the mines through the great hall and the main entrance to the caves helped them plan their strategy.

They also discovered that half a dozen Scorpions guarded the mine during the day, but at night, when the slaves were sleeping, only four Scorpions guarded the mine entrance. The two additional guards came on duty at 5:30 AM, the same time as reveille in the mines.

At 5:00 AM on the group's 75th day in the mines, the entire group was looking down on the four Scorpions guarding the mine entrance. Aaron carefully moved away from the group and concealed herself in the underbrush of the wooded area. Once she was situated, Jack threw stones close to Aaron's position to get the attention of the guards. When one of the guards came to investigate the noise, Aaron crept up behind him and put her powerful arm around the man's throat. When the Scorpion guard was no longer breathing she let him drop to the ground and took his uniform. The Scorpion guard carried a, what looked like, a p-90, as well as a modified weapon.

Once Aaron was dressed in the Scorpion uniform she called out "Venuto! Rapidamente!" (a/n: Come! Quick!) As the other 3 guards ran toward Aaron. she shot each one with the p-90. When they were down he shot each of them 1 more time, just for good measure. Jack, Theta and Luce then took their uniforms and weapons.

Luce was given a modified weapon only and the p-90 his Scorpion had carried was given to Rose. Theta, Jack, Aaron and Luce took up posts guarding the entrance to the mine while Rose continued to hide in the woods where she had a broad vantage point and could watch their backs just in case.

At 5:30, when the rest of the Scorpions came on duty, they were promptly disposed of with the p-90s and their weapons and uniforms taken. The group then hurried back to their secret entrance to the cave, removed the Scorpion uniforms and hid them in the cavernous passageway that led from the mine opening they had created, back down to the underground springs. They hid the weapons there as well, but took the p-90s with them, hiding them in their baggy, earth tone pants. They hoped they would blend in better with the rest of the slaves if they at least wore the same pants as everyone else.

They hurried to their work stations so they would not be late and the guards would not search for them.

Shortly after 6:00 AM the mine workers began pushing the heavy wheeled bins full of aquanda outside the complex as the mine guards lowered the force field and kept their weapons trained on the workers. There was so much activity no one noticed the few missing Scorpion, just as planed.

The workers in the laundry took down all the clotheslines in the outdoor area and began setting up tables and chairs for the party that would commence as soon as all of the aquanda was outside of the mine by the landing area.

Since the force field to the outdoor laundry area was always on, it was, from the guard's standpoint, a perfect place to allow the workers to party. They could be outdoors, but there was no where for them to go and the only way out for the workers was through the laundry. That meant that the guards could sit and relax in the laundry area, watch the festivities, eat and drink, while still blocking the slaves only exit.

Aaron learned from Rican that it usually took about four hours to get all of the aquanda to the staging area outside of the mine. As soon as that was accomplished, the workers were allowed to party until lights out, which meant almost 12 hours of partying. Rican said that wine and ale flowed freely at the party and that many of the guards joined in the revelry.

As the first partiers began to arrive in the laundry, Rose told her boss that she wasn't feeling well, that she thought it was morning sickness and asked to go to her compartment for a short time. Dava allowed her to go, but Rose didn't go to the compartment. Instead she headed to the great hall. It was difficult for her to make her way to the great hall as everyone was headed for the laundry and the party. When she finally arrived it did not take her long to find the rest of the group.