Pleiadian Rescuer

by Benedict Stone

  When the colossal lizard was about ten yards off, the dog went full bore and jumped up at it, but the creature just swatted him away as though he was nothing more than an annoying bug. Reg yelped as the big scaly arm hit him across the right flank. The blow sent the canine flying through the air, and he landed about eight feet to the left, whimpering.

  Everything seemed to go into slow motion. The dog being hit and sent to the ground filled Archie with rage the likes of which he’d never known. Lifting the pistol, he started firing like mad. He was scoring hits with every shot, but this thing kept coming. The lizard was massive, at least eight feet tall, distinctly larger than the one he’d previously encountered. It was taking the rounds as though it was being shot with an air gun.

  Realising the pistol had little effect, Archie started running back to the van. As he moved, he shoved the Beretta down the front of his shirt and pulled the M4 from his back. He could hear the thunderous footsteps as the reptile gained on him. He brought the rifle into his shoulder, stopped, turned and dropped to one. Through the sight, he lined up the shot. Selecting three round burst, he squeezed the trigger. The bullets seemed to rock the giant creature, but it kept coming. Another two blasts sent it stumbling forward. At the same time, Reg came from nowhere and locked his teeth around the lizard's neck and started yanking and tearing in a ferocious attack.

  With the reptile on his knees and the dog ripping him a new one, the struggle was an almighty one, with slob and scales flying all over the place. Archie wanted to shoot the bastard, but he was too scared of hitting the Rottweiler to pull the trigger.

  From the right, he heard the sound of rifle fire coming from the direction of the jeep, and the trees around him erupted as the rounds tore bark from the trunks. The soldiers had heard his gunfire and joined the fight. Facing the incoming, Archie flicked the switch to full auto and opened up. He couldn’t really see what he was shooting at, he just wanted to get their heads down long enough for him to withdraw.

  “REG LEAVE!” he shouted over the sound of gunfire. “COME!”

  Archie turned back to the lizard, he watched the dog let go and start heading back to the van. With him out of the way, Archie emptied the rest of the magazine into the scaly bastard's chest and face. The reptile dropped on to his front, as the soldiers opened up again, their weapons spitting fire.

  With the mag empty, he pulled it out as he ran towards the van. As he was moving, he reached down to the pocket on the side of his trouser leg for a fresh one. It wasn’t easy reaching down while he was running. Eventually, he got a grip of one and slapped it in the slot, turned and fired. With the incoming getting heavier and heavier, Archie had to stop, fire, run – stop, fire, run, all the way back.

  Before he got to the bush that hid the van, he moved out on to the tarmac of the carriageway. He fired as he ran across the road and dropped to the ground on the other side. As soon as he touched down, he quickly changed the mag and selected three round burst again.

  “DOWN!” Reg took the order as he laid next to Archie.

  He didn’t have long to wait before the enemy came out of the treeline. They had no idea where he was and moved cautiously out on to the road as they began their search. They were looking through the sights that were mounted on the top of the weapons, the green glow around their eyes told Archie that they were using night vision.

  The dogs panted breaths gave him away, causing the enemy to open fire. Rounds were pinging off the road and thudding into the dirt beside him. Keeping his head down as the lead flew, he knew he had to do something, but what? They had him pinned down. Without any thought of aiming, he let off two bursts. He knew they would drop to their knees or go prone, which might buy him a second or two. As he fired the second burst, he lifted his head. They were close, less than fifteen yards away, and directly in front of him.

  “MOVE!” he shouted to the dog. Reg’s movement drew their fire as he leapt forward at the same time, Archie got to one knee, weapon butt in the shoulder and fired. After hitting the guy to the left in the face, he turned his attention straight to the other one, but Reg got to him first and was happily tearing him a new arsehole.

  “DON’T MOVE, DON’T YOU FUCKING MOVE!” Archie ordered as he moved forward to take control of the heavily bleeding soldier. Reg had done a proper number on the guy. The soldier laid face down with his arms spread out.

  Not willing to take any chances, Archie smacked him straight in the back of the head with the rifle butt, forcing his face into the tarmac with a sickening pop. He went out cold. This was some serious shit. These guys appeared to be dressed differently from the others, their kit seemed more fitting, in that they were wearing full body armour with ceramic plates. There were pouches all over them, and they were wearing helmets that looked more suitable for a skateboarder or a rock climber. It occurred to Archie that these guys were probably some kind of Special Forces.

  Robbing the two soldiers blind, he took every piece of ammunition they had, their rifles and their pistols. The weapons were the same as what he already had except that the guns had low light combi sights attached. He got the flicker again…this time telling him that the sight was an ACOG 4x32 scope, with dual illuminated crosshairs with a .223 Ballistic MOA RMR sight. In layman’s terms that meant it had a Red dot sight for fast, close-range target acquisition that sat on top of a low light ACOG sight which was suited for more extended range. Two for the price of one. As well as the guns, he also had two types of grenade, a sting, and a fragmentation. He had found two of each, and the flicker told him that when detonated, the US M67 Frag grenade threw out shrapnel in all directions within its killing field, to a radius of 15 metres and could be thrown to a range of 30-40 metres -depending on how good your chucking arm was. The Sting was pretty much a stun grenade that threw out bits of rubber, designed to disorientate the enemy. Archie made a note not to be anywhere near either of them should he need to use them.

  As he bent forward to pick up the last magazine, a blinding flash passed between his head and the ground, missing him by inches; so close that he could feel the heat that it radiated. Looking to his left Archie saw the reptilian emerging from the treeline. He thought he had killed the bastard; it must have been tougher than he gave it credit for.

  Reg went for the attacker as Archie dived behind the unconscious soldier. Bolts of light flew above him as he tried to get as low as possible. He couldn’t move, he was stuck; totally pinned down. He heard a loud yelp from the dog. Lifting the M4 over the makeshift barricade of the downed squaddie, Archie opened fire. He had no idea if he was hitting the enemy, but it felt good just to be fighting back.

  The lizard’s shots were flying over his head in quick succession, and they were getting closer. It wasn’t long before energy bolts were hitting the man Archie was hiding behind. He had been firing back on full auto, and now there was nothing but clicks coming from his weapon, he was out of ammo. There was no way he could change the mag without taking a hit. Looking to his right, he could see that one of the other rifles was laying on the tarmac, about five feet away. It was so close, but not close enough; he just couldn’t get to it without getting killed.

  Come on Reg, get up, get up, He wasn’t sure if he was thinking it or if he was shouting it; it didn’t matter. He could hear the dog whimpering, and he knew that he was hurt. It was over. He was about to die. Looking into himself, he accepted the inevitability of it, as he heard the heavy footsteps coming towards him.

  The bolts of energy were hitting all around him as the lizard drew closer. He waited for the end to come.

  WHOOSH! This noise was different.

  What the fuck was that?

  Looking up, he saw that the enemy was still firing, but not at him. He was shooting toward the van. Flicking his eyes that way, he saw a big blond, naked man; half kneeling, half hanging on to the back of the vehicle, firing some kind of light weapon at the reptilian. Seizing the opportunity, Archie rolled to the side and grabbed the M4 next to him. At the same time, he hea
rd the snarling barks from the German Shepherd as it ran at the enemy.

  The lizard’s attention was firmly on Blondie and the dog. Archie got to one knee and fired on full auto, emptying the entire clip into him. The massive reptile dropped to his knees, as Archie slotted home a fresh mag. A quick look towards the van told him that Blondie was on the ground, not knowing if he’d been hit or not, Archie turned his attention back to the enemy, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Making every bullet count, he switched back to three round burst and unloaded another mag, only stopping when the dog got in the way and attacked. By that time the lizard was down anyway.

  With the dog ripping into the creature's throat, Archie dropped the M4 and picked up one of the pistols from the floor. Moving forward, he ordered the dog to leave, and from no more than three feet away, he put five rounds directly into the things scaly face. He was definitely down this time. Moving closer, he shot another three bullets into the thing's skull, just to be on the safe side.

  The lizard was finished, so Archie made towards the van. Blondie was lying face down, moaning and groaning. Turning him on to his back and checking him over, there were no signs of injury, he must have just passed out. Dragging him to the rear of the van, Archie noticed something that looked like a remote control for a television laying on the floor. It must have been a weapon of some kind. He realised that he hadn’t actually searched the man after rescuing him. He never actually checked to see what the little pouches contained when he had cut his clothes off, then again, Archie had been too busy trying to save his life.

  Getting to the rear of the van, Archie heaved as hard as he could as he lifted the heavy bastard into the back door. Once inside, he replaced the sleeping bag over the top. Afterwards, he picked up the device from the ground and started to make his way back towards the area of the fight. There were twelve buttons on the little machine and a small screen centred around a large circular switch. Then it hit him, the flicker; it was a weapon, but not only that, it had other functions as well. It was also a diagnostic and healing tool. For the first time since receiving the flicker, he never got any information on how to use it. He knew what it was but not how it worked. Not that it would have mattered anyway, he wasn’t about to stick it in his pocket. No, he was going to leave it with Blondie. After all, he had just saved Archie’s arse with it, and he might have to do it again.

  Arriving back at the site of the battle, he made his way straight to the dog. The German Shepherd was whining as he stood over the Rottweiler who was lying flat on the ground. There was a massive gash along his left flank. The blow he took must have been huge, he was hurt bad, but there was no way Archie was about to leave him behind. Picking him up was no easy task, he seemed to weigh as much as Blondie. Struggling, he lifted Reg up, he staggered back to the vehicle.

  Reaching the back of the van, he slid the big dog inside and covered him up. When he turned around, the German Shepherd was looking up at him, so he did the same as he did with Reg.

  “Your name is going to be Kaiser from now on mate,” he said as he stroked the animals head and receiving a face full of slob in return.

  It was time to collect the equipment and get out of there while he still could. With Kaiser at his side, he ran back into the tree line to find and retrieve the thermal camera. Fortuitously, when Archie dropped it to the ground, he’d left it on. That meant the screen was still lit, making it that much easier to find. As he picked it up, he noticed that there was a dead reptilian in the vicinity. It was the one that had initially attacked him, which meant there had been two. Thank god for that, he thought as he realised that they weren’t as hard to kill as he’d first thought.

  From there he moved out on to the road and made his way back to the dead soldiers. He picked up the remaining pistol and stuffed it down the front of his shirt, then slung the two rifles across his back. He changed the mag on the third one, made it ready and left it on the ground. He was going to return for the grenades, and he wanted to leave some firepower in place for when he came back. Try as he might, he just couldn’t get anything else in his pockets.

  With all the kit stowed in the vehicle, he went back to the dead soldiers for the last time and dragged them off the road. The guy that he had knocked out was well and truly dead; the reptilians weapons fire had really done a number on him. The energy bolts had gone through the man’s body armour like hot piss through snow. That dirty bastard had wanted Archie dead so desperately that he had killed one of his own allies to get at him.

  Having stashed the bodies in the treeline, Archie struggled to pull the lizard to the front of the van. It had occurred to him that he had been trying to shoot them in the head to destroy its brain, or centre mass, going for the heart. But in reality, he had no idea of the creature’s anatomy or where the heart would be located. So, for the first time since leaving the lake, he turned the headlights on, he wanted to see the thing up close.

  Once the area was illuminated, he opened his attacker’s tunic. Standing over him, he pulled out his bowie, bent down and started cutting the reptiles chest open. The skin was really tough, and the scales were making the job more difficult. His skin would make a lovely handbag, he thought as he sliced a straight line down the middle of the chest. From that point, he cut two lines out towards the sides.

  With the skin open, he set about jabbing through the dense bones that made up the creature’s rib cage. Ironically, this brought Archie’s attention back to his own rib pain. Once he had detached a section either side of the chest, he started forcing the blade through what would have been the sternum. It wasn’t a straightforward action; he had to push in and withdraw the knife repeatedly to achieve, what amounted to a dot to dot line. Then he forced the blade through to join the dots together until it all fell apart. With the chest hanging free, he opened the rib cage out as though it was a book to expose the reptile’s innards. The smell was horrendous, and Archie found himself gagging several times.

  Moving the contents about, he couldn’t find anything that even remotely looked like a heart. After a few minutes, he noticed a black plate located to the upper right, just under the site where a human’s collar bone would be situated. Tapping it with the point of the blade, the plate seemed as though it was as hard as steel.

  It was protecting something; Archie was sure of it. But he just couldn’t penetrate it. If I can’t get through it, I’ll go around it, he thought as he held the knife flat and slipped the blade under the edge of the plate and into the softer tissue beneath it. He felt like he was back at school dissecting a frog, albeit a massive one. Once the knife was properly in, he started cutting until he could lift one side away. He never removed it completely, just enough to get it out of the way. Lifting up the free side of the plate, Archie found a dirty greenish black lump. That was it… the heart. Confirmation came when Archie pushed the tip of his knife into it. Giving it a little squeeze, he watched as the horrible dark viscous fluid seeped out of the hole. With the heart found, he now knew where to shoot.

  There was one more thing he needed to do before leaving. Replacing the plate and putting the rib cage and skin back into position, he stood up and pulled the silenced pistol. Taking aim, he fired at the plated area. Then he pulled the skin back and had a look to see if the round had penetrated through to the heart; it hadn’t. He did the same with the unsilenced pistol, but that ended with the same result. Fuck it, he thought as he took aim with the M4 and pulled the trigger. Green shit splattered everywhere. Bingo! Now he knew where he had to hit them. Headshots with the handguns and the heart with the rifles.

  With his knowledge of alien anatomy updated, Archie dragged the giant science experiment off the road and into the trees. After he had a last look around to make sure he got all of his kit together, he got into the van and turned the lights off. He waited a minute or so to let his eyes begin to adjust to the darkness before he moved the vehicle up to the jeep and stopped. Predictively, he found the keys in the sun visor, before driving the thing strai
ght into the treeline. When he was far enough to be hidden from the road, he stopped and turned the engine off and wiped his fingerprints off the steering wheel. Now that everything was hidden from sight, he made his way back to the van and checked the speedo. He had travelled nearly twenty-two miles from the lake, but that was irrelevant now because he had just had another firefight. Which meant that he had to reset the getaway counter. The time was 05.45, and it would be daylight soon. He had to get a move on.

  9

  Undisclosed Location

  The Midlands

  England

  After driving for about thirty miles, Archie noticed a light emanating from the hole in the bulkhead that separated the front from the rear of the van. Looking back, he saw that Blondie was sitting upright.

  Other than the odd helicopter in the distance heading towards the area of the lake, there had been no sign of pursuit. Deciding to pull over to find out what was happening in the back, Archie found a road off the main. It was a dirt track that was lined with overhanging trees, he guessed that it was an access road for some farmer to get his tractor to his fields.

  Once he had found a particularly well-hidden area, he stopped the van and made his way to the back door. Because he didn’t know what to expect, he pulled out the pistol and flicked off the safety. Opening the door, he found Blondie was sat crossed legged, leaning forward over Reg. He was using the remote control thing to shine a green beam of light onto the dog’s injuries. Archie just stood there watching in awe as the light pulled the Rottweilers wounds together.

  “You will not need that,” Blondie said, flicking his eyes to the gun.

  “What are you doing to the dog?” Archie asked with his eyes firmly on the green light.

  “I am sealing his wounds,” replied Blondie. “When I am finished, he will no longer feel any pain. It will be as though he was never injured.”

  “I appreciate that thank you,” Archie said, pausing for a moment. “Now if you don’t mind, I want to know who the fuck you are and how you know my name?” It was a demand, not a question. He wanted answers. He had been Compelled to kill a lot of people throughout the night to keep this guy alive, and now he wanted to know why.