An Alien Rescue (54 page)

“Unless we have some of the local currency,” he added. “Then I can’t buy a six pack and a curry for all of us.”

They shook their heads.

“I guess that’s the curry and beers buggered then,” he said with sadness, hoping they would’ve given him unlimited amounts of local cash, telling him to get what is needed and also to have a good time.
Yeah, fat chance too
, he thought quietly.

“Hey! Guess what? I can barter for what we need.”

“Barter?”

“Yeah! Barter! We have packs of crisps and
lots of cola. If I carry a box of each I reckon I can get what we need.”

“Bloody brilliant!” said Belinda.

“Erm, yes… Bloody… brilliant,” agreed Frell, not quite knowing why Belinda had used such a word to describe her joy at the idea, but as it seemed to make the idea sound like it would be worth trying so she said it too.

“Right, then. Say no more. I’ll need some drinking water and a box of crisps and cola, then I’ll be on my way.”

The boxes and water was delivered by Drang and Phyllis.

“Drang, me old chum. Howz’ya doin?”

Drang couldn’t quite figure what he had been asked, so simply smiled and shook his hand. Scott, on the other hand, realised his words had confused him.

“Hey, I’m sorry for the jargon I have been dishing out. I know I must get it into my thick head to speak clearly and logically.

Belinda gave his words some more thought, telepathically speaking to the rest. “His head, according to Scott, was already too big, and now it might also be thick. And what is it he is saying, that he intends to speak clearly and logically.”
Humph
, she thought.
That’ll be the goddamned day
.

The others laughed at her statement, thinking she sounded more and more like Scott.

Belinda offered Scott the use of an environmental tool, saying the sun’s rays were extremely dangerous, especially as he was not acclimatised. He refused the thoughtful offer, saying the sight of a foreigner strolling out of a desert wearing a blue one piece suit while donning a little red hat on his noggin would raise more than just a passing glance. It would be the sensible thing to do, considering the heat, he told them, but the need to maintain a low profile was as important as getting hold of the spares they needed. He would carry the boxes in such a way to provide himself with necessary shade. The water would sustain him and the desire to repair the ship would help push him on. Frell gave him such a loving hug, he almost suggested he should hang around for an hour or so before he set off. His heart belonged to her, and hers to him, but first he must carry out his plan… then the fun could really begin.

He lifted the boxes before trying to pick up the bottle of water. He couldn’t do it. He didn’t have enough hands. The others had watched, allowing him to see for himself that his plan had a flaw. He needed another to accompany him. He conceded the fact as the rest of the group all raised their doubts at the same time. He had to raise a hand to silence them.

“Yeah - yeah. I know what you are all trying to say, and you’re right. It seems I need you in more ways than one, Frell.” She could only smile back at him as the others were pleased he had seen sense and understood their gravest concerns.

“I know the direction we must take and we can share the load between us.” Frell had said it as she picked up the box of cola, feeling its weight. Scott had tried to beat her to the heavier box, hoping she would settle on carrying the lighter of the two. She recognised his gentlemanly act and decided to thwart his attempts at being the strongman. She considered herself to be strong as well, feeling vibrant, fit and healthy, even though she had been acting out a stage role as an ice cube for a while. He picked up the lighter box and bottle of water, when Belinda took hold of an arm.

“I really do not think it is a good idea to go for a walk into a town with the weapon and bullets still strapped to your side like an old fashioned cowboy. The locals might think you are a gangster.”

Scott almost dropped the load he carried. “You make me sound like Al Capone from Chicago, for goodness sake.” He really wanted to laugh, but his mind was so concerned with the journey and its possible complications he didn’t. “You are one hundred percent right though. I cannot walk into any town with this piece of hardware strapped to me. I would be arrested without question, and perhaps worse.”

Belinda unfastened the weapon and slung it over her shoulder, looking like a gangster’s moll.

“Follow me,” Frell said while already climbing the slope in one corner of the area. He winked at Belinda and Phyllis, giving Drang a knowing nod of his head. He more or less indicated
he
was to look after the girls, and Drang returned the same, as if to say he
was
looking out for them and they would be safe.

With that unspoken reassurance, Scott followed the one woman he would gladly follow into battle, the woman he would die for, the woman he wanted desperately to give another child
to. He loved his daughters at home, more than anything else in the world, and he loved his other daughter too. His wife had born him two lovely little girls, even though she had turned into a premenstrual tension suffering monster. Whenever his wife had flown into one of her countless rages he would instantly back-off. He learned to quietly suffer any confrontation, understanding he could never win because his wife just didn’t realise what was happening, which was most of her middle-aged time. He blamed a change in her hormone levels for the agro he received, knowing full well the symptoms were common throughout the female species. However, the damage was being done at increasing levels during those reoccurring episodes, where his patience and understanding was stretched beyond the resilience of any angel. His visits to the Isle of Skye was not just to happily indulge in his hobby and enjoyment of geology and palaeontology, but also to get some peace and quiet. He always missed his girls, for they were the sweetest things to ever happen to him. But now he had another girl to think of, and hopefully, another in the future to come. He would have pleaded for his lover to take him from Earth, to take him to her home and allow him to share her life forever more, except for the love he had for his little girls back home.

“Hey! What are you waiting for?” cried Drang behind him. “Have you fallen asleep or do you need a push?” Belinda and Phyllis stood by Drang’s side, looking a little worried.

“Humph,” Scott released. “Can’t a simple straight forward guy have a couple of seconds to himself, to reflect on his life before he’s sent into the lion’s den?” That silenced them, good and proper, because they did not know what to reply to or what to say. He grinned at their silence, thinking he had told them where to get off.

They watched as the pair reached the escarpment’s edge, climbed
across before disappearing down the other side after giving the trio a farewell wave. They had reciprocated, waving, indicating their friendship and best wishes for a quick return. Drang said he would continue with his inspection of the ship’s external surfaces, undercarriage bays and mechanisms, while Phyllis insisted on double checking the controls and internal systems. Belinda was left by herself, standing with the vision of her friends climbing over the cliff’s edge and away. There was nothing left for her to do, except wait for their return.

The sand became softer as they left the stony cliffs behind. The scree from
eroded mountains was loosely packed, threatening to make them skid down the steep slopes. Scott’s experiences of climbing on the island of Skye came in useful as he taught Frell how to sidestep and safely traverse the steepest sections, while using their weight and momentum to negotiate slightly elevated hills.

“Let gravity do the hard
est work for you,” he would say. “We will have to climb back this way when we have accomplished what we have set out to do, so we must conserve what energy reserves we have.”

She asked him to stop for a moment, pretending she needed to catch her breath. He waited for a moment, wondering why when she had literally been racing ahead. Her lips almost smothered him, taking him by surprise, but he was only too happy and eager to return the passion. The boxes were discarded and the bottle rolled off on its own, unseen and uncared for
at that moment. She ran her hand down the front of his suit before her own. He placed his hands around her breasts as her clothes slipped towards the sand to lie at her feet, as his did. They stood naked in the sunshine, reflecting the rays like marble-white statues. She kissed him hard, smothering him with the passion of a thousand years of loneliness. His hands explored her body, feeling the strength and the need for his own to enter her. They lowered each other to the desert sand while still embraced. She had missed her lover and General, needing to feel him inside her again, after such a long and lonely time. His body was ready and hers was too. They met half way and made love with a vengeance. Her body melted against his and he moulded his into hers. Together, they converged and they rode the waves of a turbulent sea, working hard at their sexuality while knowing the outcome would be another child. The knowledge of additional offspring added to the fervour of their union, forcing him further in while she strove to pull him deeper. It was almost like a frenzy, with deep and loud breathing from extreme physical exercise that would make any athlete wince. He came and she screamed, the echo quickly returning as if another randy couple had just shagged
their
brains out on the other side of the rock-strewn valley.

It was later when they managed to find the energy to detach themselves
, sliding down the rest of the mountain towards a level plain. A road was seen to wind into the distance, heading for the town where Frell was leading them. Scott had stumbled a few times, falling head over heels while trying to hold onto the box of crisps and bottle of water. And no matter how hard he tried, he always seemed to end up with his packages coming to rest many metres away. Frell didn’t suffer from the problems he was facing, it was as if there was adhesion on the soles of her feet. He wondered if there might be a different tread pattern, often tempted to ask if he could have a peek, but bottled out because if there was no difference it would show he was less adapted to the terrain.

The road was made of asphalt, the dark surface looking like the longest black snake in the whole wide world, side-winding its way across the desert between high mountain peaks.

“This is the way we need to go,” she indicated, pointing. “We really must make an effort to move quickly though as we have used a lot of daylight time with our lovemaking.”

This caused Scott to blush and smile like a fool in love. She returned the smile together with a tug on one arm. She had enjoyed feeling him inside her again, and there would be more. But now they had to accomplish what they had set out to do.

It started as a small white speck in the distance, almost like a star in the darkest of nights. The sun reflected off the paintwork, giving the object a shimmering appearance. The small and dilapidated Renault 4 car looked as if it had been abandoned for a century or more, but the still hissing engine proved it had once been mobile, and only a short time before, Scott recognised.

They
had approached it cautiously, wondering if the owner or driver might still be there. With no one found, Scott looked into the car. The ignition keys were missing and the windows were open, bar one. He was pleasantly surprised to discover the doors were unlocked and the boot was only jammed shut with a wooden wedge.

“Can we use this to travel into the next town? Frell asked, hoping he would say,
yes
.

“I could easily hot-wire it,” he said while inspecting their new found pri
ze. “But the engine’s suffered from overheating. It might even be seized,” noticing the amount of steam rising from beneath the bonnet. “And even if it isn’t, it probably would.”

Frell looked disappointed at his reply.

“The owner might also be on their way back to recover it. I don’t think it would be an awfully good idea to be seen in a stolen car. Do you?” He asked with open arms and slightly tilted head, hinting it would be silly to even try it.

But before she could reply, he added, “Hang on a minute, though.”

He gave the car a good once-over, walking around its circumference as if to inspect it or to declare it was only worthy for the breaker’s yard. Frell watched in silence as the engineer did his thing. His mind was calculating as his eyes took stock, his face gleaming with an idea. He reached into the car’s interior, searching for a lever situated in the driver’s footwell. Frell jumped in surprise as the bonnet sprang from captivity, holding her pounding chest as if her heart had missed a beat.

“Sorry,” he apologised, grinning. “I should have let you know that would happen.”

He moved to the car’s front, raising the bonnet to look at the engine. Frell stood to one side, watching him touch and feel the engine’s angry heat. It hissed a couple more times, with small clouds of vapour rising as if furious at his unwarranted intrusion.

“Bastard!” he shouted. “That’s bloody hot!” He blew on his hands to cool them.

“Is it bad? She asked with concern.

“What? Is what bad?” he asked, still blowing.

“Your burn.”