Pleiadian Rescuer

by Benedict Stone

  As he was firing, Archie heard a voice in his head, apparently from the Traton above, saying that he would answer to the Council for ordering them to break Galactic Law. To say he was surprised was an understatement, he was flabbergasted. I’m in the middle of a major fire-fight, to save one of their people and their mission, and I’m having a telepathic row with some muppet about the rights and wrongs of war. He couldn’t help the response he thought back to the Traton. Fuck off, I’ll deal with the Council if I live long enough. But for now, just do what you’re fucking told! He didn’t have time for this shit, he had a battle to fight.

  Eventually, with enemy numbers dramatically reduced and even though, for the moment they only had the Draco to contend with, Archie and his team still didn’t have enough ammunition to take them on. They needed to get Blondie off the ground and get out of there before they were overrun.

  “Blondie, it’s time to get a ship down and get you out of here!” Archie shouted as the big Pleiadian was shooting the crap out of a Draco warrior that had gotten too close.

  “STEVE! STEVE!” Jason was excited about something. “There’s the C.O… 3 o’clock… on the jeep. Take his head off!”

  The officer was surveying the battlefield through binoculars, as Steve swung the .50 into position and pulled the trigger. The man’s head exploded like a watermelon as the large round hit. “Now no-one knows we were here!” Steve shouted back to Jason.

  It was a nasty way for someone to die, but Archie didn’t feel bad. In fact, he was relieved because it meant that Jason and Steve were in the clear. He had been concerned that when this was all over, the pair would get nabbed, tortured and executed. By the sound of it, the now dead Commanding Officer that had recalled them to duty had been the only person that knew who they were, and now that his brains were spread across the field, he wasn’t about to tell anyone else.

  19

  Stone Circle

  Amesbury

  Wiltshire, England

  The feeling of relief that Jason and Steve were in the clear was beginning to dissipate as a Lightship appeared out of thin air. It came down behind the monument, slightly to the South. It was time to get big bollocks out of here, but no sooner had the ship materialised, than the enemy increased the pressure of their assault. There were at least fifty squaddies and Draco warriors moving forward, all firing, all intent on killing Archie and his little crew.

  Archie and his team were covering each other as they worked their way to the Lightship. Fire and move… fire and move… click, click, click… FUCK, he was out of ammo.

  “I’m out, I’m out!” Archie shouted as he ran.

  It was the same situation with everyone, except Blondie and his little remote. The fight was going hand to hand. Shit was about to get real… too real!

  “Blondie, get on the ship and fuck off,” he shouted before telling the others to run for the jeep.

  As the Pleiadian started for the ship, a ramp or door opened from the underside of the rim of the saucer. Archie saw the big man jump in and turn back. There was fear and concern on Blondie’s face as he looked to see what was happening on the ground. He was aboard, and even though he knew that he and the other two were likely to die, Archie took comfort in that.

  By the time the three men made it to the outer rim of Stones, it was clear they weren’t going to make it to the jeep, the lizards were right on top of them. Archie grabbed the Katana from the holdall and moved out towards the vehicle, swinging, chopping, slicing and stabbing everything in front of him. If he was going down, he was going down fighting. Jason and Steve were following his lead with their combat knives.

  Archie was about five yards from the jeep, when he heard a scream from behind, the likes of which clearly indicated severe pain. Turning, he saw that Steve was down, a particularly large reptile on top of him, swiping away with its massive claws. In the same instant, there was a hiss to his right. Without looking, he pirouetted in that direction and swiped his blade down hard and fast. He felt good contact through the sword, and he knew that he had hit his target. Without stopping to see who or what he had striped, he headed back towards Steve, who was still on his back trying to fight the lizard off, but he had no chance… the thing was huge. Archie brought the Katana back and with a horizontal blow, took the reptilians head clean off. Looking down, he saw that Steve had suffered some horrific and severe injuries. He knew immediately that the man was going to die. He had seen enough trauma in his life to recognise fatal wounds when he saw them.

  “Leave me, leave me, I’m finished,” Steve said weakly.

  From the right, Archie heard gunfire. Turning, he saw Jason coming towards them with his pistol in his hands and a flash looking rifle over his shoulder. Behind him, he saw where his old friend had gotten the new weaponry; there was a human soldier lying on the ground, covered in blood.

  “Leave me, Arch,” Steve said again.

  “Shut up you prick! I got you into this, and I’m not leaving you or anyone else behind,” Archie said as he dragged Steve back towards the megalithic structure.

  Bypassing the outer ring of Stones, Archie heaved the fallen man to the inner circle and laid him in as much cover as he could find. On the way in he noticed that the Lightship had gone, and now that he had stopped with Jason covering them, shooting at anything that moved, he saw that the aerial battle was over. There were no Pleiadian ships to be seen, they had all gone.

  Looking around, and trying to weigh up their options as Jason tossed him the pistol, Archie realised there were no options. There was nowhere to go, and they were on their own. He knew that as soon as Jase was out of ammo, they were dead men. But for now, they were still in the battle, and as long as he drew breath, he was going to fight. Better to die on my feet, than live on my knees.

  As he brought his eyes down from the heavens, Archie saw a squaddie behind Jason, lining up a shot. Reflexively bringing the pistol up, he put a round through the enemy’s forehead. The bullet must have passed Jason’s face by less than two inches. He turned to Archie, brought his rifle up and did exactly the same thing, hitting someone or something behind him.

  “We’re not going to last much longer, mate,” Jase said, resigned to the fact that there just wasn’t anything more they could do.

  They literally sat there shooting until the weapons were dry, then that was it… they waited to die. As he sat there, Archie started thinking about his family; Lucy, the kids, of all the things he was going to miss. Not seeing them grow into adults, getting their first jobs or having their first drink in a pub. He was thinking of how they would take the news of his death or if they’d even be told.

  “NO, Fuck this!” Archie said. “We’re not dying today!” he was pissed off at the irony of getting killed because he’d done the right thing.

  Enemy soldiers started to pour into the Stones, and as they did, Jason and Archie got to their feet and fought hard, with a ferocity that scared even himself; and he was the one doing it. They had managed to take out a good number each, but as soon as the Draco came in, it was over… they were prisoners. That moment of realisation was extraordinarily intense and even emotional. They were caught, and there was nothing they could do but accept the kick-in that they were currently receiving. The blows rained all over Archie’s body hard and fast. He tried to protect his head and face, but it was impossible. He felt his jaw crack under the weight of a reptilian punch, his mouth filled with broken teeth and blood. He was struggling to breathe, as his nose caved across his face. He could only hope they wanted them alive, and the beating was just punishment for killing their lizard friends.

  Archie tried to keep tabs on Jason, but it was impossible, there was just too much violence, and he lost sight of his old friend almost the instant the brawl started. One particularly hard blow had his head spinning.

  After what seemed like an hour’s worth of brutal punishment, it all stopped. Archie just lay there spitting teeth, blood and snot, as he tried desperately to get his breath back. The dizziness
made him vomit. He knew he was in a bad way when every time he tried to lift his head to look around to see where the other two were, he was sick again. In the end, he gave up trying to find the other’s and just laid there, breathing heavily, trying to calm down.

  There was some conversation going on between the two enemy factions, but Archie couldn’t make out what they were saying. He was just glad of the respite. They left him lying there for what felt like half an hour. Eventually, he got control of his breathing and the spinning in his head began to subside.

  He looked up to see that Steve had been left alone during the beating, he was in the same position that Archie had left him after dragging him into cover. Jason though, looked just how Archie felt; like death warmed up. The three men were all still conscious, which was a good sign. He made eye contact with both of them and gave them a wink through his bruised and swollen eye. Their return of the gesture meant that they were still with it. That was definitely a good sign, and he felt an instant boost of morale.

  Two Draconian warriors grabbed Jason and Archie by the neck and dragged them to their feet. Their hands were forced to their heads and held in place as a squaddie searched them. While this was happening, Archie heard someone say, “Do we know who these people are?”

  “No, Sir.” The answer boosted Archie’s morale even more.

  Archie, stand by; when it happens, be fast. At first, he thought he was losing his mind, it took a moment for him to realise that the voice was Blondies. He’d contacted him telepathically.

  He was still trying to figure out if what he’d heard was real or if it was just his imagination getting the better of him when it happened. Approximately twenty saucers appeared from nowhere and immediately started firing energy weapons at both the ground and air forces, giving no quarter. In the same instant, Archie kicked out, hitting the soldier in front of him in the groin and instantly dropping him. At the same time, he bent his arms tight and turned in a fast spin; first to the left, then the right, using his elbows to give two punishing blows to the Draconian behind him. This forced it to let go of Archie’s right hand, and as he did so, the Earth Born stepped back into the lizard's personal space, brought his elbow down and forced it as hard as he could into its ribs, causing the creature to jolt forward. Archie now had the enemy’s right hand in his left and pulled it over his right shoulder, pushed his hip into its body and pulled the reptile over him, sending the bastard crashing to the ground in front of him. The second it hit the dirt; Archie started kicking its face in… only stopping when the thing ceased moving.

  Looking around, he saw that Jase was having it too, booting the shit out of another reptile. The enemy had scattered, trying to escape the Pleiadian fire. The Earth Born were back in the fight. Archie grabbed a rifle that had been dropped and opened fire, shooting the bastards in the back as they ran from the Stones. With the enemy beyond the outer ring, Archie looked back to see that Blondie was at the bottom of the ramp of a hovering Lightship.

  “Come, quickly,” he shouted to the men.

  “Jase, we’re off, you cover, I’ll carry Steve” Archie yelled over the sound of weapons fire.

  Switching the fire selector to full auto, Jason let rip as Archie got Steve up onto his shoulder and started towards the saucer. He wasted no time passing the injured man up to Blondie at the bottom of the ramp, before jumping up himself. Once in, he turned and covered Jason’s approach. The opening closed the instant the last man was inside.

  “Where’s the Traton?” Archie asked the big man, murmuring through his broken jaw, “Take me to him.” Not only was he well hyped up, but he was also hurt as well. They might be in the relative safety of the ship, but this wasn’t over yet.

  They left the other two humans in the hands of the Pleiadian crew and made their way through the ship, Blondie leading the way. Again, just as it did on the crashed ship where this all began, the inside of the craft seemed far more massive than it looked from the outside. It was something that had boggled Archie’s mind.

  “Why do your ships seem bigger on the inside than they look from outside?” the Earth Born asked through a mumble.

  “We use an alternate reality drive, which can be used to create a larger interior,” Blondie said in his usual low tone. The explanation of the alternate reality drive was fascinating, and Archie found himself wanting to know more, but there was something more pressing at hand that needed to be dealt with. But Blondie’s voice told Archie that the big man was concerned about what he intended to do when he met the ships Traton.

  Turning through a door off the main hall, they entered the control room. Archie was met by a tall Pleiadian. At over six feet tall, with platinum coloured hair, the man introduced himself as the Group Traton Aldar. As Archie shook hands, he asked where the weapons systems were.

  “Why do you want the weapons?” the Traton asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Because I’m going to kill everything around the Stones,” Archie replied as a matter of fact.

  “I would protest, but I know that would not change your mind, would it?” There was resignation in the Traton’s voice.

  “Absolutely not,” Archie said, his tone dripping venom. “Not unless you fucking want some as well?” he snarled, ready to smack the ship's commander in the mouth. “They have to die for the future security of anything we might do on Earth from here on.” That wasn’t the reason at all, not even close - he wanted revenge, nothing more; just some kind of payback. He felt terrible for his threatening behaviour to a man who had without a doubt, just saved his life, but he couldn’t take the chance that anyone on the ground could identify him or his friends and bring the war to his doorstep. No, he had to end it here and now.

  Traton Aldar led Archie to a holographic work station with a chair, or more appropriately, a couch in front of it. The thing was a wraparound affair, similar to a seat that you would find in a racing car; however, this was more like a wraparound bed. The operator laid in it, and the thing moulded itself to the form of the person using it. The holographic display had a reticule within it. His instruction was to look at the target, tracking of the eyes would align the targeting system, and think fire. Basically, the system worked on thought projection. If he thought short burst, the weapons would fire in short bursts. If he thought continuous burst or Beam fire, it would unleash a constant Beam of energy at the target… simple. Once an enemy target was locked, the system would calculate whether or not it was moving through the operator’s eye movements and thought patterns, then automatically adjust to ensure the blast would hit home.

  Once he had settled on the couch, Archie asked the Traton for a continual flypast until he said otherwise. He was amazed at how responsive the targeting system actually was; the reticule followed his eyes exactly. He lined the sights up on a jeep… FIRE! Nothing, all that happened was a noise sounded, like an alarm clock.

  “What happened?” he asked, looking over at Traton Aldar.

  “The Phased Reality Drive is still engaged,” he answered. “It means that although we can see the enemy, we are not in the same reality as them, they cannot see us. But we cannot fire on them until we re-phase into the same reality as the target.”

  “So that’s how you can appear and disappear.” Archie was starting to understand. “You can literally wink out of this reality to another, target the enemy and reappear firing, then wink out again before they can target you. Clever”

  “In essence, yes,” Aldar replied. “We are about to re-phase you will hear a tone that will indicate that you can open fire.”

  As he said it, the tone sounded, and green lighting bordered the workstation. Archie targeted and thought fire repeatedly. The weapons response was as impressive as the targeting. The Lightship zigzagged over the Heritage site as he blasted everything but the Stones themselves. After three passes, nothing on the ground was left moving, and he had destroyed every vehicle he could see, melting them all to slag.

  “Traton Aldar, that’s it. We’re done here” Archi
e said with relief. “Thank you for your assistance.” It was time to go home.

  Epilogue

  Pleiadian Lightship

  Earth

  Sol System

  As Archie climbed out of the weapons couch, and with the adrenalin dissipating from his body, he felt every ache and pain. The beating he had received had been savage, and now he was really feeling it. He stood like an old man, pained and decrepit. No sooner had he straightened his body, than Jason came through the door to the command room; he looked exactly how Archie felt, limping, swollen and covered in blood. He needed medical attention… they all did. Archie’s mind instantly went to Steve. He was almost dead while they were on the ground, his injuries undoubtedly fatal.

  “How’s Steve?” he asked, fully expecting to be told he was dead.

  “He’s alive,” Jase answered. “He’s in their med bay, and they’re working on him.” Archie felt relieved at the news as he limped towards his old friend.

  The two men met in the middle of the deck and hugged, an embrace that said it all. Neither of them had believed they were going to survive what had happened. Yet, here they were, battered, bleeding and bruised, but they were alive.

  “They’re all dead,” Archie said, “we’re safe.”

  “Good,” Jase replied as he looked around the room. “Are we going somewhere?” he asked, nodding to one of the holographic displays.

  “Er, Traton Aldar, where are we going?” Archie asked as he saw stars zipping through the screens.

  “Erra” Aldar replied. “We cannot chance taking you home, it is not safe. We have detected many Draconian ships around the planet; several lying in wait to try and detect our electromagnetic signature. They will attempt to destroy us should we appear. We will need to wait until they have resumed normal status. Only then will it be safe enough to return you to your homes.” He glanced at the holo-display before continuing. “Besides, your other friend will need to be treated on Erra. His wounds are far too serious to be healed aboard this vessel. The reptilian venom was injected directly into his organs. He will die unless we can get him to the medical facilities on the homeworld.”