Pleiadian Rescuer Read online

  Once he had finished robbing the soldiers of their worldly possessions, he made his way back to his launching point to retrieve the thermal and the rifle. With these in hand, he moved out on to the road to open the gate so that he could drive the van straight through, but the sound of dogs barking stopped him in his tracks almost instantly. Looking through the thermal, he could see a dog patrol moving down the main road towards him. They were about two hundred and fifty yards away. Two dogs and two handlers. The mutts were going crazy. It was about to go off big time, and he knew it, as he ducked back into the bushes.

  Standing firm in the trees, Archie watched through the thermal as the group started running in his direction. It was too late for him to run; he’d never make it to the van before the dogs would be on him. He naively hoped the animals had spotted a rabbit or something and were chasing that, but he also knew that was nothing more than just wishful thinking. As he watched, he silently begged for some kind of divine intervention to make them stop. But it wasn’t to be. As soon as he saw the handlers release the dogs, he knew for sure that he couldn’t sit it out, he was going to have to deal with them.

  The thought of killing the dogs grated Archie like nothing he had ever experienced before. He loved animals, especially dogs. He’d grown up with a multitude of different pets, and this was the only time in his life that there wasn’t a dog at home waiting for him to return. His last dog Zeus had died the year before, and Archie hadn’t really got over it. The pain of Zeus’ death still brought tears to his eyes every time he thought about it. At that moment, he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to end the lives of these animals hurtling towards him. But what else could he do? If he was going to survive the night, he had to kill them. Killing the soldiers, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. They had made a choice to do what they do, whereas to the dogs, it was just a game. Shit, I’m going to have to do it! The stress caused his breathing rate to increase.

  Going through his options, Archie came to the conclusion that he should continue to refrain from using the guns. Clearly, there were more soldiers around and using the firearms would only draw more attention to his presence. He knew the handlers hadn’t called the situation in yet because he had the radio, nothing had come over the earpiece. The chances were that the handlers didn’t even know for sure that he was there and were only reacting to the dog's behaviour. Quietly was the way to go.

  Through the viewfinder of the thermal camera, Archie kept his eyes trained firmly on the dogs running along the road as he backed into a small clearing. He knew what he was going to do with the first animal. He had trained for it in his martial arts; in fact, he had trained to do it bare handed, but choking the mutt out was a long and painful death. As the first one lunged at him, he would drive the knife up through the lower jaw and into the brain, death would be almost instantaneous. Dealing with the second one carried too many variables that were dependant on the situation at that time, so planning for it was a waste of time. He’d have to deal with it as it happened. The mere thought of what he was about to do made his eyes well up with tears. He couldn’t believe what was about to happen.

  These dogs were big bastards, and he could hear their footsteps from a hundred yards away. Not long now and they would be on him. Archie readied himself. Fifty yards – thirty - at twenty yards, he had one last, quick look through the thermal to see where the handlers were and threw the camera to his right. The men were still over a hundred yards out. With the bowie knife in his right hand and the fish knife in the other, he put his left foot forward, standing side on; he was ready. The dog's heavy footfalls made it sound like a stampede of horses was coming at him. They hit the clearing - Here we go!

  Nothing! They just stopped and looked at him, panting with their tongues hanging out of their mouths. They were beautiful animals. One was a German Shepherd whose fluffy tail was gently wagging from side to side. The other was the biggest Rottweiler Archie had ever seen. He couldn’t do it; he couldn’t bring himself to hurt these magnificent creatures. Holstering the blades, he got to his knees and raised his hands to his head, waiting for the handlers to come and arrest him.

  The fluffy tail GSD licked his chops and trotted over to him. Preparing himself for the worst, he held his breath but was surprised when the dog rubbed against him as if he wanted stroking. The Rotty just stood there watching as Archie started petting his new friend. It was too much of a temptation for the big Rottweiler to resist, he wanted some love as well. The dog looked behind him, in the direction of the handlers and snarled, baring his huge teeth before walking over to get some strokes for himself. It was as though they were happy that they had found someone to show them some affection.

  After a few seconds, Archie picked up the thermal again to see where the handlers were. They were about fifty yards out and closing. He knew they had to go, but he wondered how his new companions would react when he killed their owners. Maybe he should just kill the dogs anyway and be done with it. NO; soldiers, yes – dogs, no. Not unless he had absolutely no other choice.

  “Sit,” Archie said, trying his luck with the animals. To his astonishment, they did precisely what they were told. “Good boys,” he added as he gave them both a quick pet.

  When the handlers got to about twenty yards away, Archie replaced the thermal on the ground and pulled out his knives again. He wasn’t going to mess around; he was going to throw both of the weapons at his attackers and finish it quickly. He didn’t want to get into a physical with them, he wasn’t sure what the dogs would do. Might they side with him or would they tear him to pieces? He just didn’t know, and he wasn’t prepared to take any chances.

  Blades at the ready, he waited. He could hear the soldiers calling to the dogs, but they weren’t listening, they just sat there looking up at Archie. The calls got louder as the handlers entered the bushes. They were only just in front of the clearing, and he was about to throw the first knife when the dogs both ran forward and set about mauling their handlers.

  Archie couldn’t believe what was happening. What happened to the loyalty of man’s best friend? The screams the men were letting out were blood-curdling as the dog's teeth tore into them. He couldn’t let it phase him, he had to do something before the cries drew the attention of any other patrols that might be nearby. Moving forward, he saw that one of them was trying to pull a pistol as the Rottweiler was tearing into his left arm. Archie knew that he couldn’t let the man pull that weapon and from roughly ten yards away, he threw the knife. The blade buried itself deep into the handler's chest. The man seemed to die instantly.

  Turning his attention to the second soldier, Archie saw that the German Shepherd had him by his neck and was trying to pull his throat out in an absolutely savage assault. He couldn’t let the man die in such a manner. To his complete surprise, both dogs stopped what they were doing when Archie shouted “LEAVE” and came to sit by his side. “STAY,” he said as he moved forward to check on the second Handler. The two animals didn’t take their eyes off of him as they sat there growling. The man had some horrendous bite marks all over him, and he was whimpering in agony. Archie felt terrible for the guy, but not enough to jeopardise his own safety, so pulling the Beretta, he pointed it at the soldiers head and threatened to shoot him if he moved.

  After ordering the man to lay on his front, Archie removed the sidearm from its holster on the prisoners right hip and threw it into the middle of the clearing. Then he used the guys own zip-tie plasti-cuffs to secure his hands behind his back as tight as he could before he rolled him on to his back and searched him properly. He had a silencer for the pistol in a pouch on his tactical vest which Archie stuffed into one of his own pockets. He removed the man’s radio and knife and tossed them into the clearing. Once he had finished the search, he grabbed the back of the injured man’s collar and dragged him to a nearby tree. He then took the plasti-cuffs from the dead soldier and used them to further bind the injured guy by forcing his feet back and tying them to his hands, arou
nd the trunk of a small tree. Once he was secure, Archie scoured the dead one.

  He went for the obvious first, the pistol. The moment he touched it, he got the flash that told him everything he needed to know about the weapon. Hi-Power Browning with a thirteen-round clip. Making sure the safety was on, he threw it on to the pile in the middle of the clearing. Other than a radio and decent looking blade, there wasn’t really anything else of interest. When he had finished, he took the stockpile of equipment that he had gathered and moved off into the bushes. There he removed the battery pack from the radios and put them into the same pocket that held the silencer. He then stripped the firing pins from the weapons and threw them as far as he could. He lobbed the soldier's knife as well.

  Making his way back to the clearing, Archie stripped the dead guy of his jacket and put it over the other one. He didn’t want the man to die of exposure. He wasn’t worried about the soldier identifying him, he hadn’t so much as looked at him throughout the whole ordeal. His eyes had been flicking between the pistol and the still growling dogs. At least if he was eventually caught, Archie could say that he only killed when he had no other choice. Not that he intended getting caught. Before leaving the man to his own devices, Archie ripped a length of clothing from the dead guys' shirt, making a gag out of it, and tied it tight around the soldier's mouth.

  Using the thermal, he made sure the road was clear before he moved and opened the gate. Turning back toward the track, Archie noticed that the dogs were right there with him. Initially, he didn’t know what to do with them.

  “Fuck it; Come on then, you’re on the firm,” Archie said as he started making his way to the vehicle. “If I leave you here you’re gonna get a lead injection.”

  With his new best friends in tow, he sprinted back to the van, it was time to get out of there.

  8

  Exit Of The Fishing Lake

  West Midlands

  England

  Upon reaching the van, Archie threw the M4 and the thermal into the front and made his way to the side door. Inside, he felt Blondie’s shoulder, he was freezing. He motioned for the dogs to get in, they complied by laying either side of the frozen man, as though they knew he needed warming up. Because he felt so cold himself, Archie suspected that the core body temperature of the unconscious form was probably on the dangerous side of low. He decided to open out the sleeping bag and lay it over both Blondie and the mutts in the hope that the animal's body heat would go some way to warming him up.

  After doing all he could in the back of the van, Archie got into the driver’s seat, wondering where he was going to go. Screw it; the where didn’t matter. He just had to get away, deciding that he would only stop when he was clear before figuring out what to do. His immediate plan was one of necessity; get out of the area as quick as possible.

  Slipping the van into gear, he made his way to the gate. The main road was actually a B-road, a country lane. The chances of any other vehicles being on the road at this time of night were slim. The only exception would be the ones that were actually looking for him. For that reason, Archie decided that he wasn’t going to stop at the gate to see if the way was clear; he was just going to drive straight out and turn right. What was the worst that could happen? It didn’t matter if there was anything incoming or not, he wouldn’t be stopping if he hit anything anyway. What was he going to do, stop and exchange insurance details? No, he just had to keep the wheels rolling, whatever the cost.

  Looking through the thermal, Archie could see that the exit was still clear, so as planned, he drove straight out, turned right on to the road before flooring the accelerator. Travelling in the dark with no headlights was a risky business, but travelling at speed in the dark with no headlights was suicidal. With that in mind, he knew that he couldn’t afford to draw any attention to himself with lights, he just had to get away as clean as possible.

  As he was driving, Archie held the thermal above the steering wheel so that he could see where he was going. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than a slap in the face with a dead fish. Night vision goggles would have been better, but he was shit out of luck - none of the dead squaddies had been carrying any. If they had, then they would have been on his head, and his arm wouldn’t be aching from the weight of the camera. His ribs felt like he was being stabbed with every breath he took, and his face was burning as though Satan was holding a burning pitch folk to his head.

  The road was reasonably straight for long periods, but when he did have to turn, he could hear the fishing gear rolling and crashing about in the back. He just hoped it didn’t hurt Blondie or the dogs. He couldn’t slow down; speed was of the essence. The soldiers at the gate had said that the ETA for the incoming Draco crew was fifteen minutes, and that was twenty minutes ago. Archie knew it wouldn’t take them very long to figure out what had happened. He had to get a shift on. He wanted to get at least twenty miles away before he would even consider slowing down.

  Flicking his eyes down to the clock, Archie saw it was approaching 04.30. He was shocked at what time it was. It didn’t feel that late, or early, depending on what side of midnight you went to bed. But, time flies when you’re having fun. Only, there was nothing fun about the events that had taken place.

  Archie had been driving as fast as he safely could for about fifteen minutes when in the distance he saw something at the side of the road. Through the thermal, he thought he could make out a jeep with two heat signatures standing to the side of the road. Shit, I can’t just drive up to them. He didn’t know for sure, but he had a feeling that they were probably military. Slowly, Archie brought the van to a stop and noticed there was a large bush about twenty yards in front of the vehicle. That will do nicely, he thought as he pulled the van up as close to it as he could, hoping that it would provide a bit of cover. He nearly pulled right up, putting the front of the vehicle into it, but decided against the idea in case he needed to make a quick getaway.

  Turning the engine off, he noticed the pain from his head again. It was getting worse, and it was beginning to itch like crazy. He wondered if it was because the wounds were scabbing up or if it was the onset of an allergy to the poxy fish cream. Whatever the cause, there was no time to worry about that now, he had to check that jeep out.

  He wanted to make as little noise as possible, so when he got out of the van, he left the door open. Moving to the back, he opened the door to get the second M4, this one had a strap. Leaning in to pick up the rifle, he saw that the German Shepherd was laying tight to Blondie. Reaching under the sleeping bag, he could tell straight away that the unconscious man was significantly warmer. As he pulled away to close the door, the Rottweiler got up and made his way over. Something in the way he looked at Archie told him that the dog wanted to tag along. That bloody compulsion was back again, he knew he had to take him.

  “Fuck it; you’re on the team dog,” he whispered as he motioned for the pooch to get out of the van. With that, he gently closed the door until it got to the latch then with a firm push, locked in place. Turning away, he saw that the dog was just sat next to him, looking up. Kneeling down, Archie stroked his head and whispered, “I can’t keep calling you dog, so I’m going to name you Reg.” He received a lick to the face in response. As he wiped the slime from his cheek, he couldn’t help but smile. Of all the names he could have called the dog, Reg the Rottweiler was the only thing he could think of. As he silently checked the rifle, he hoped that Reg wouldn’t give him away.

  With the weapon ready, he slung it over his shoulder and across his back, before he pulled the Beretta from his waistband, checked the magazine and made sure it was ready for action. Safety on, he slipped it back into the front of his trousers. One last check told him that the blades were secure in their holsters. He was ready; well, as ready as he was ever going to be. Heading off into the trees, he noticed that Reg was at his left heel, moving in stride.

  As quietly as possible, Archie edged his way towards the jeep. He was only about five yards into the tre
eline, but it was pitch dark and eerily silent. The only noise came from their breathing, their footfalls were surprisingly quiet. Archie was impressed with how Reg stalked his way forward as if he knew exactly what he was doing. He stuck to Archie’s side as though he was attached by glue.

  At around forty yards from the target, he remembered that he had the silencer for the pistol in his pocket. Stopping and dropping to one knee, he fitted it to the gun. Just as he finished screwing it on to the barrel, he heard a noise to his left. Reg turned in the direction and started baring his teeth before a low growl emanated from his throat. Peering hard into the darkness, Archie couldn’t see a thing until he lifted the thermal back up to his eyes, but even then, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He only saw the usual colours that made up the different heat signatures of various things like the ground and the trees. He had no doubt that the dog was on to something, but Archie couldn’t see what it was.

  As he panned the camera from left to right, he thought he saw a darker shadow move between the trees. At the same time, Reg became even more agitated. Archie realised that the thermal wasn’t doing anything but light up his face, so he put it down. He was convinced there was something out there, but he still couldn’t make anything out in the darkness. He didn’t like it, the hair on the back of his neck stood to attention, and his intuition was screaming at him.

  Archie had stayed in the same position for several minutes, trying to survey the area around him before he eventually decided that whatever had been in the trees was gone. He was just about to move off, in the direction of the jeep, when a big dark shadow broke from cover and started towards them. Reg went ballistic, barking, snarling, showing his teeth, but stayed at his new master’s side. In a split second, Archie knew he’d been ambushed, and it dawned on him that the shadow was another giant reptile.