Pleiadian Rescuer

by Benedict Stone

  Three, what he could only describe as Lightships were dancing around the sky again. Having the video camera in his hands already, Archie just pointed the lens up but didn’t really pay much mind to filming. Instead, he just watched and enjoyed the show. He felt happy, content, but most of all privileged to be witnessing such a spectacle. The craft spent the next fifteen minutes zipping across the sky from point to point before they just blinked out and were gone.

  The splashing continued for another five minutes and then started to move farther out from the beach and eventually faded completely. It was as though the predator was swimming through the shoaling prey fish and they were trying to jump out of its path. The weird thing was that a lot of these fish were not prey at all. One landed on the beach, and it was a big Carp; more specifically, it was a Common Carp. Archie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Never in all his years of fishing had he seen or heard of such a big Carp beaching itself to get away from a predator. Being that he was so surprised at the size of the beached fish, he decided to get his scales out and weigh it. 22 Pounds of Common Carp had beached itself to escape a predatory fish - unbelievable! His amazement turned to curiosity as the fish’s size confirmed that it was no prey fish. What was in this lake that could force a fish like this to be scared enough to make it act in this manner?

  While he had it on the bank, Archie decided to give the Carp a quick once over with some anti-septic cream specifically designed for fish. After cleaning up and treating a few ulcers on the Carps underside, he released it back to the water. But his astonishment went further as he watched the thing repeatedly trying to beach itself. It was only when he took it along the bank to the next swim and try to release it, that it actually returned to the depths. It was weird, he’d never seen nor heard of fish acting in this way. Archie couldn’t help but think that the fish didn’t want to go back and would prefer to take its chances on land. But that was stupid, it would mean certain death.

  As he walked back to the bivvy, he heard the distant sound of rota blades, the helicopters were coming back. He ran back to the tent, turned the heater off and used the doors as a fan to get as much heat out as he could before they arrived. As soon as he felt he’d done enough, he went inside and zipped the door flaps, leaving a small opening to see out of. The noise became deafening as the choppers flew over the top. At one stage, he thought they might actually land on his camp.

  Looking through the hole, he watched as the bait tent went flying into the bushes as the downdraft hit the bay. The rush of air was so intense that the roof of the bivvy was bending inward. They’re going to find me; the fear was building in him as he watched the choppers circle the lake in the same way they did the night before. Just like they did previously, they disappeared the way they had come from after about half an hour.

  Looking at the clock, sometime after pulling the bait tent out of the bushes, he realised how late it was, and decided to meditate over the situation. During which he asked the light if he should leave, the answer he got was not the answer he really wanted… No. He also asked if there was a reason to stay to which he received a light shine so bright that the response was unmistakable – YES. Once he had finished the session, he made the decision to keep the heater off and just get into the sleeping bag and try to get some sleep. But it didn’t come easy, his mind was racing with questions like Why was he here? And What am I supposed to do? He eventually dozed off about 2 am.

  The following morning, Archie awoke to feel remarkably refreshed, more than that he felt terrific, which was surprising considering what he had been through over the past couple of days. Getting out of bed, the pain from the bruise on his arse flared up, and the memories of the previous day flooded back into his mind; falling out of the bivvy, then the tree, and rowing across the freezing water in his pants the morning before. The memory made him laugh aloud as he thought about it. Surely today couldn’t be any worse than yesterday. He undid the door zips, opened up, and nearly fell over, this time for an entirely different reason. The beach was littered with dead fish - lots of them, of all sizes and species. Something strange was going on, but he just didn’t know what. He didn’t like it one bit. Why would so many fish beach themselves like this?

  Moving the fish into the next swim, he thought of the old saying If you can’t take a joke, don’t go fishing, to take his mind off of the situation. It was short lived though, as he realised that a lot of these dead fish seemed to have some sort of… burn marks. Pulling out his knife, he cut one open and gasped at what he found; it was cooked. Unable to believe what he had seen, he cut a second one open, and this time it was actually burnt on the inside. How had this happened? What could do this? Was this why they were trying to get out of the water last night? Was there something in there that was burning them? The questions filled his mind thick and fast, but he just didn’t have any answers. Fuck it, I’m having a brew, he thought as he threw the last carcass into the bushes next to the bay.

  While he waited for the kettle to boil, he decided to test the temperature of the lake with his hand. Dipping his finger, he was shocked to find it was reasonably warm. It wasn’t hot enough to burn him or the fish, but it was definitely warmer than it should have been. Something was wrong on this lake. With the kettle whistling, he put the strangeness out of his mind and made a cup of coffee, using the rest of the water to make up a bowl of noodles. He was starving.

  The weather had turned in to a bright, albeit cold, sunny day and as Archie stood on the bank eating his food, he contemplated whether or not to stay and fish or cut his losses and go home. Looking around at all of the fish scales on the beach, he couldn’t help but think that this place had something seriously wrong with it, like there was some kind of bad mojo going on. In the same moment, the fish started jumping again, and as he watched, he thought he saw some kind of bow wave push through the surface of the water – some sort of strange ripple. Maybe he was seeing things, he wasn’t sure, but he made the decision to pack the gear up and leave for home tomorrow morning – he wouldn’t be fishing here anymore.

  With his mind made up, he set about stowing everything he wouldn’t need back in the van. The only things he kept out were what he would need to have a relatively comfortable night; bed, sleeping bag, cooking gear, and the medical pack along with the survival pack, would be all that remained of the camp. Everything else was packed into the van, ready for a quick departure first thing in the morning.

  Little did he know that everything would change that night!

  4

  Fishing Lake

  West Midlands

  England

  Archie had a sense of foreboding as he sat watching the sky outside the bivvy. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something dodgy was about to occur. He didn’t know what, he just knew things didn’t feel right. The night was cold, the air was still, and the natural sounds of the wildlife and the rustling of the leaves on the trees had stopped. Even the sound of the water lapping against the beach had ceased. The only noise was the gas cooker burning away next to him.

  A few minutes later, he heard the sound of bubbling and assumed the kettle was boiling. He noticed a low humming sound coming from somewhere across the lake. Thinking it was a plane off in the distance, Archie picked up his cup and made himself another coffee. Once he replaced the kettle, he turned off the stove, but the bubbling sound continued. It seemed to be coming from the lake. Taking a swig of his drink, he immediately noticed that the kettle hadn’t actually boiled, and the water was only just warm. Concentrating on the noise, he realised that the lake was definitely the source of the sound, and after a moment or two, the bubbling turned to splashes. Archie knew precisely what that meant - the fish were jumping again.

  As this realisation set in, three lights appeared in the sky directly above the lake. This time they were close – really close. They made the same pattern as they had on the previous nights – circling each other and zipping about the sky. After a few minutes, one of them came in really close and h
eld a position about fifty feet above the water, at a distance of around forty, maybe fifty yards. Archie was awestruck as he sat there in amazement. For a second, he thought that the lights in the water were a reflection of the craft hovering above.

  WHOOSH

  WHOOSH

  From beneath the surface of the water, two intense beams of light erupted out toward the hovering ship directly above. As the rays struck the craft, its lights flickered, revealing it to be a typical saucer type spaceship, the sort you would see in a movie. Almost instantly the stricken ship listed towards him before crashing into the lake no more than twenty yards from Archie’s beach.

  To the right of the downed Lightship, a Dart or Arrowhead shaped craft exploded from the lake, firing multiple bursts of the same intense beams at the other two Lightships still in the sky. At the same time, from across the water, another Dart burst through the surface. A moment later, Archie heard another crash from the other lake behind. He assumed that the noise was another one of the hostile ships.

  The instant the first Lightship was struck, the cogs as to what had happened the day before all fell in to place in Archie’s mind. These Arrowheads must give off some sort of radiation, which had been the cause of the dead fish. And it must have been one of them that had snagged the hook and carried off his rod.

  Watching what could only be described as a battle, Archie found himself shocked to the core. Was he dreaming? The two remaining Lightships seemed as though they were ready as soon as their enemy had fired at their first ship. They manoeuvred quickly out the way of the incoming fire as the Arrowheads reached out with their weapons.

  Getting quickly to his feet, Archie started calculating his next move. What should he do? Should he hide? Should he jump in the van and drive away? What could he do? There was nothing in the fisherman’s handbook to prepare a person for this shit!

  The two remaining Lightships pulled back, seemingly to lure the Arrowheads away from the immediate area, before they started fighting back. Beams of light, obviously weapons, flew across the sky seeking their targets. Archie looked at the downed ship and thought about the people inside. No, not people, he reminded himself - Beings. Were they alive, or were they dead? Fuck it, I’m going to row out and see if I can help. He didn’t know what he could do, but he had that compulsion again.

  Archie saw two of the Arrowheads destroyed as he rowed like a mad man towards the flickering ship. As he got closer, he noticed that there was an open hatch on the left-hand side of the craft. Making his way to the opening, he saw that the battle in the sky had intensified significantly as more and more Arrowheads seemed to appear from nowhere. As the Lightships destroyed one, it was replaced by another two. He couldn’t believe that he was witnessing two alien nations fighting in Earth’s sky. And I’m in a poxy rowboat about to jump on to an alien space ship – what is the world coming to? He couldn’t help but snort a laugh at the surreal situation he had found himself in.

  He was about five feet from the floating saucer when another Lightship simply appeared out of thin air. Archie jumped so hard that he nearly fell out of the boat. The new craft was extremely low, almost touching the roof of their downed brethren. It held that position for some time. With everything that was going on, the only audible sound was from the whooshing of the weapons fire from battle overhead. There was no real engine noise from either of the alien ships other than a slight whine from the Arrowheads.

  As he reached the rim of the saucer, the now familiar sound of rota blades filled the air. The helicopters were on their way. With the rope and brick anchor in hand, Archie slid on to the edge of the craft and almost slid straight into the water, but somehow managed to get a grip of the hatch just in time to stop himself from going over the side. He threw the brick into the opening, hoping that it would keep the boat in position for when he got back. As he was about to drop into the ship, there was a mass of heavy machine gun fire from behind. Instinctively, he dived to the rim of the ship to limit the potential for being hit. The cracking from above told him that the helicopters weren’t shooting at him but at the Lightship overhead. The noise was horrendous. He couldn’t help thinking that at any second he would kop an unfortunate one as the high calibre rounds ricocheted off the intended target above him. The knowledge that staying where he was would mean that he would probably get shot prompted him to hop into the hatch. At that very instant, his feet touched the deck inside, the Lightship above moved away from the location, drawing the helicopter with it. Archie realised that the vessel had been shielding him so that he could make it into the cover of the alien craft.

  That thought led to another – he was standing inside an alien spaceship. He couldn’t just go inside and start searching. He had to be sure the enemy of this ship wasn’t going to just blow it out of the water with him on board. No, he should stay topside for a while, and if it looked like they were going to destroy this thing, he’d jump into the water and swim like a crazy man to get away.

  He watched the interstellar dog fight going on above in utter bewilderment. He was amazed at the capabilities from both of the alien ships as they fought. He’d never seen anything like it - even in films. It seemed as though the Lightships had the upper hand, but the problem was that the more of the Darts they destroyed, the more that appeared. Over the noise of the rota blades, Archie heard the distant rumble of fighter jets. He guessed it was only a matter of time until the Air Force got involved. They streamed in and immediately set about trying to attack the Lightships with missiles and strafing runs… unsuccessfully. Their targets just seemed to hop out of the way of the plane’s weapons.

  Laser and tracer fire were streaming all over the night sky as each side tried to get the drop on the other. The Arrowheads and the humans were apparently working together as they tried to coordinate their attacks. That made Archie wonder if he was doing the right thing in trying to help the aliens inside the crashed vessel. Should I rethink this? NO, I’M DOING THIS.

  He was just about to enter the ship when the dreaded WHOOMP of the rota blades returned, stopping Archie in his tracks. The downdraft felt like some unseen force was trying to crush him. Looking up, he saw someone fast roping down from the helicopter to the rim of the saucer. As the soldier touched down, he immediately brought his rifle to bear and started screaming for him to get out of the ship.

  Archie knew full well that this soldier wasn’t concerned about his welfare…he was there to kill him, but he wanted him outside to do it cleanly. Slowly, he started to raise himself out of the hatch as the military maniac moved quickly towards him. Archie knew precisely what he was going to do, and as he got to the lip of the opening, the soldier was about five feet away. Without hesitating, Archie performed a forward rolling break-fall towards his enemy, as he came out of the roll, the rifle started firing on full-automatic, but the soldier wasn’t fast enough - Archie was on him. The roll brought him to the left of the shooter. Reaching out with his left hand, he grabbed the barrel of the man’s weapon, forcing it away from him so that he couldn’t be shot as it kept firing. With his right hand, Archie immediately started repeatedly punching the left side of the shocked soldiers head. From there he moved the punches to the left side of the enemy’s chest and instantly felt the ribs cave and crack under the weight of the blows. His victim yelped in pain as he fell to his knees. Archie’s actions were so fast that the gunman couldn’t react in time.

  The wounded man tried to use his elbow to smash Archie’s face in, but his attacker was just too fast. He caught the elbow and manipulated it until he had the wrist and pulled the arm out straight, at this point Archie put the palm of his right hand through the back of the soldiers’ elbow with a satisfying crack. The soldier screamed and howled in pain, but Archie didn’t care as he continued to punch the guys face to a bloody pulp. From nowhere, he saw that the beaten soldier had a pistol in his right hand and was desperately trying to get a bead on him. He had to get away before the bastard shot him. Diving to the side, Archie performed another break
-fall but in the process, pulled his fish knife from its sheath on his belt and as he came out of the roll he spun back toward this murderous piece of shit and threw the blade. From this distance, there would be only one outcome as the knife buried itself into the man’s eye. The soldier fell backwards and started twitching on the deck, Archie realised he had just killed him.

  It all happened so fast that he couldn’t quite make sense of it. His martial arts training was so intense that it seemed like he’d been on autopilot during the fight. His senses were always heightened when it came to clobbering time, but tonight was a shade beyond anything he had ever experienced.

  Suddenly he heard shouts over the noise of the rota blades above. Looking up, he saw two more soldiers preparing to come down the ropes. He ran over to the dead man, pulled the knife from his eye and cut the sling that attached the rifle to his body. Touching the weapon brought with it some kind of flash - knowledge of how to use the thing. Bringing the stock into his shoulder, he took aim on the first man roping down. Flicking the switch from auto to single shot felt as if it was completely natural. A single pop sounded out as the round left the chamber, the target fell from the rope and landed with a sickening thud, head first onto the rim of the saucer before sliding into the water.

  He was about to line up another shot at the second figure when a blinding flash hit the helicopter. There was no big explosion. The aircraft just tilted over and fell into the lake as though it had been frozen in mid-air. Even the rota blades were stationary before the thing hit the water, where it sank almost immediately. Archie looked over his shoulder to see where the blast had come from and saw a Lightship about a hundred yards away. A second helicopter started moving in from the left and opened up on the alien vessel with its minigun. The chopper had absolutely no chance as the Lightship blinked out and reappeared about fifty feet to the right, then blasted it with the same weapon it had used on the first helicopter.